The thrilling 11-inning matchup where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51M watchers in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this is the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable game averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game drew 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. 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 PM local time, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise over last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 different tongues.
