The nail-biting 11-inning contest that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined 51M viewers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic game drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership was 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s best postseason performance after 2017.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different languages.
