The thrilling extended contest where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined 51 million spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB stated this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the last finale between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game averaged 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English program in Canada since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – averaged over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series drew over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete American average was 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s strongest postseason ratings after 2017.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
