Fall Classic Game 7 Draws 51M Audience Members Across the US, Canada and Japan Regions.
The exciting extra-inning contest that saw the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a aggregate 51M watchers in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. MLB reported this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale after the 1991 contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also is the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 edition final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement over the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – averaged over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series drew 15.71M viewers on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on Univision, the complete US viewership reached over 16 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09M watchers, an 8% increase over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
