The exciting 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a total 51M spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB stated this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday epic game averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to Nielsen, 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 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game finished in 13th position.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series averaged 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total American average was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase over the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance after 2017.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
