The thrilling extra-inning contest that saw the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total 51 million spectators in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB reported this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase over the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game finished in 13th place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – averaged over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-game series averaged 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M watchers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 various tongues.
