The exciting extended clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total over 50 million viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball stated this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase compared to the previous Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game drew 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 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
