The thrilling extra-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate 51M watchers across the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest secured over 27 million audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also is the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the last finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game finished in 13th position.
International Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English broadcast in the country since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-game World Series drew 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the total American viewership reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
