The exciting extended contest where the Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51 million viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball announced this marks the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew 27.33M audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series recorded 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete American viewership was 16.1M. The total Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and Fox’s best postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 different languages.
