The exciting extended clash where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a total 51 million watchers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB announced this represents the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the last finale between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game landed in 13th place.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English program in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-game series recorded 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total American viewership reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen various languages.
