The nail-biting 11-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run attracted a total over 50 million spectators across the US, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball announced this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured over 27 million audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-match series drew 15.71M audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the total American viewership was 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M watchers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance since 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 different tongues.
