The nail-biting extra-inning contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate over 50 million spectators across the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement over the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in the country since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
