The nail-biting 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a aggregate over 50 million watchers in the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the last finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match series recorded 15.71M audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete American average was over 16 million. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million watchers, an 8% rise compared to last year and the network’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 various tongues.
