The exciting extended clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined over 50 million spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this is the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the previous Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total US average reached 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase over last year and the network’s best postseason performance after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
