The thrilling 11-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51M viewers in the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase over the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game drew 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match World Series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total US average reached over 16 million. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different languages.
