The thrilling 11-inning clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a total 51M spectators in the US, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB reported this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series averaged 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience increases for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on Univision, the total US viewership was over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise over last year and the network’s strongest playoff ratings since 2017.
MLB announced that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
