The thrilling 11-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate 51 million watchers in the United States, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this is the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase compared to the last finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-game World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total American viewership was 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M viewers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s best postseason ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
