The nail-biting extended clash where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51 million spectators in the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable contest averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition final game involving 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 attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in the country since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total American viewership was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million viewers, an 8% increase over last year and the network’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
