The exciting extended matchup where the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run averaged a total over 50 million viewers across the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase over the last Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in 13th position.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game drew 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English program in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – averaged over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership was 16.1M. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million viewers, an 8% increase over the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance since 2017.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 various tongues.
