The thrilling extra-inning matchup where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined 51 million viewers across the United States, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this is the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game drew 27.33M audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase over the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth place.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English program in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a single network in the country.
Overall Totals and Trends
The full seven-match World Series drew 15.71M audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total US viewership reached 16.1M. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
