The nail-biting extra-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run drew a aggregate 51M watchers in the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB announced this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
International Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game averaged 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game series recorded 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total US average reached over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent increase over last year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
