The exciting extra-inning contest where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total 51M spectators in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this is the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
The Saturday epic game secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the last finale between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game was eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series drew 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total American average reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M watchers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason performance since 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different languages.
