The thrilling 11-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a total over 50 million watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball reported this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
The Saturday epic contest averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase over the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th position.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match series averaged 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete US average was over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase compared to last year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 various tongues.
