The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run averaged a total 51 million spectators in the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
The Saturday memorable contest drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent improvement over the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game finished in 13th place.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12 million. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-game series recorded 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete US viewership was 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen different tongues.
