The exciting 11-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51 million viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
The Saturday epic contest secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup after the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total US viewership reached over 16 million. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and the network’s best postseason ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 various tongues.
