The thrilling extra-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run drew a aggregate over 50 million viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball announced this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic game after the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
International Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-game series drew 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete US average reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and the network’s best playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 different tongues.
