The exciting 11-inning matchup where the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run drew a combined 51 million viewers in the United States, Canadian, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball announced this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest secured over 27 million audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-game World Series drew over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete US average reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million viewers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and the network’s best postseason performance since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen various tongues.
