The thrilling 11-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a total 51M spectators across the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball stated this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also is the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series drew over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete American average reached 16.1M. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
