The nail-biting extended matchup that saw the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined 51M viewers in the US, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this marks the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase over the last Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series drew over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent 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 consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total US viewership was 16.1M. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded over 8 million watchers, an eight percent increase over last year and the network’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB announced that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 various tongues.
