The nail-biting extended matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined 51 million watchers in the US, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB stated this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest secured over 27 million audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase over the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in Canada since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series averaged 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US average was 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s best postseason ratings after 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen various languages.
