The exciting 11-inning matchup where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined over 50 million spectators in the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the previous Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and the third game finished in 13th place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English program in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – recorded 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match series averaged 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two straight years.
Including the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete American average was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M viewers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in sixteen various tongues.
