Fall Classic Game 7 Attracts 51M Viewers Across the US, Canada and Japanese Regions.
The thrilling extra-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined over 50 million watchers in the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this represents the highest-rated World Series finale after the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest secured 27.33M audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in 13th position.
Global Audience Numbers
In Canada, the game drew 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language program in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up a single run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the complete US viewership reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M viewers, an 8% rise over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff performance since 2017.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
