The thrilling extra-inning contest that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined over 50 million spectators in the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this marks the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable contest secured over 27 million audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language program in the country since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series drew over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total American viewership reached over 16 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million watchers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings after 2017.
MLB announced that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
