The exciting extra-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a total over 50 million viewers across the US, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball announced this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a 16% improvement over the last finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game landed in 13th place.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English program in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – drew 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-game series recorded 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two straight years.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total US viewership was 16.1M. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M viewers, an 8% increase compared to last year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 various tongues.
