The exciting extended contest that saw the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a combined over 50 million spectators in the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball announced this is the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the last finale between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match series recorded 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership increases for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete US average reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million watchers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and the network’s best playoff performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 different tongues.
