The nail-biting extra-inning matchup where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined over 50 million watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball reported this is the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language program in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series drew 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete American average reached 16.1M. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million viewers, an 8% rise over last year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
