The thrilling extra-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run drew a combined over 50 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this marks the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
The Saturday memorable contest secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase over the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English program in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series recorded 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete US viewership was over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and the network’s best postseason ratings since 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen different languages.
