The thrilling extra-inning matchup where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51 million watchers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game secured 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series averaged 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US average reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s best postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the World Series was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in sixteen various languages.
