The exciting 11-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51M spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Details
The Saturday epic contest drew over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% improvement over the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game finished in 13th position.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game averaged over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series averaged 15.71M audience members on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the total American average reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
