The exciting extended clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total over 50 million viewers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this is the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game finished in 13th position.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – averaged 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-match World Series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American average reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average 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 recorded over 8 million viewers, an 8% increase over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff performance after the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 different tongues.
