The nail-biting extra-inning matchup where the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined over 50 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest secured over 27 million audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase over the last finale between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM local time, it drew 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game series averaged 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total American viewership reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09M watchers, an 8% rise over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 different languages.
