The nail-biting extended matchup where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total 51 million watchers in the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball reported this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured 27.33M audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-game World Series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total US average was over 16 million. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million viewers, an 8% rise over the previous year and the network’s best playoff performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
