The thrilling extra-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined over 50 million watchers in the US, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic game drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total US average was 16.1M. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million watchers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen various languages.
