The exciting extra-inning contest where the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a total 51M watchers in the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game drew over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a 16% increase over the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
International Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu 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 the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-game World Series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total American viewership was over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M viewers, an 8% increase compared to last year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 various languages.
