The nail-biting extra-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total over 50 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this is the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic game secured 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement over the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 was seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game averaged over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – recorded over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total US average was over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise over last year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
