The thrilling 11-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run attracted a total 51 million viewers in the US, Canada, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball announced this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic game secured over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the last finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English program in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series drew 15.71M audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two straight seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete US average reached over 16 million. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
