The exciting extended clash that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate over 50 million spectators in the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball stated this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also is the top-rated Fall Classic game after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase over the last Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
International Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series drew over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership increases for two straight seasons.
Counting the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total American average reached over 16 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09M viewers, an 8% increase compared to last year and Fox’s best postseason ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen different tongues.
