The thrilling extra-inning clash that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a total 51 million viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
The Saturday epic contest drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last finale between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language program in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-game World Series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total US average was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded over 8 million watchers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and the network’s best playoff performance since 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
