The thrilling extra-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51 million spectators across the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball stated this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase over the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French 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 game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match series drew 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total American viewership reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise over last year and the network’s best playoff performance since 2017.
MLB announced that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 different languages.
