The exciting extended contest that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total over 50 million spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. Major League Baseball reported this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete American average reached over 16 million. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09M watchers, an eight percent increase over last year and Fox’s best postseason performance since the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
