The exciting 11-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run averaged a total 51 million viewers in the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball reported this is the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game drew 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the previous finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game finished in 13th place.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-match World Series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total US average was 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s best playoff performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
