The nail-biting 11-inning contest where the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a total over 50 million watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB stated this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic game secured 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase over the last finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and the third game landed in 13th place.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game averaged over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language program in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12M. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match series recorded 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US viewership was over 16 million. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff performance after 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
