The exciting extended matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a aggregate 51 million watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this represents the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 was seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-game series averaged 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total US average reached over 16 million. The total World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million watchers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 different tongues.
