The thrilling 11-inning contest where the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51 million watchers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball reported this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game drew 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement over the last finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language program in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total US viewership was over 16 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different languages.
