The nail-biting extra-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run drew a total 51 million spectators across the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this is the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game secured 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in 13th place.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match series drew 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total US average reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and the network’s best playoff performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
