The thrilling extended matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined over 50 million spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB announced this represents the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the last finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language program in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase compared to last year and Fox’s best postseason performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
