The nail-biting extended clash where the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run drew a combined over 50 million watchers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball stated this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest featuring the Twins and Braves.
Television Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in 13th position.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game drew 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game series recorded 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete US average reached over 16 million. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance since 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in 16 different tongues.
