The nail-biting extended clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51 million spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase over the last finale featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed 4th, the fourth game was 7th, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game landed in 13th position.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language broadcast 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 12M. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series averaged 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete American viewership reached 16.1M. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M viewers, an 8% increase compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings after the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
