The nail-biting extra-inning contest that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51 million spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% improvement over the last Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game finished in 13th position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete US average was over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and the network’s strongest playoff performance after 2017.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen different tongues.
