The thrilling 11-inning contest that saw the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a combined 51M viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a 16% improvement over the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game series averaged 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total American viewership was over 16 million. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 various tongues.
