The exciting extended clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined over 50 million viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest drew over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase over the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series drew 15.71M audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two straight years.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete American average reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million watchers, an eight percent rise over last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different languages.
