The nail-biting extra-inning clash that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a aggregate over 50 million watchers across the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball reported this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic game drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also is the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the last finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – averaged 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the total American average reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 various languages.
