The exciting extended clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a total 51 million viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent improvement over the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English-language program in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series drew over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete American average reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million watchers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and the network’s best playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
