Fall Classic Game 7 Captures Over 50 Million Audience Members In the United States, Canadian and Japan Regions.
The exciting 11-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate over 50 million viewers in the United States, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this is the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest drew 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase over the last Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game averaged over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English-language program in the country since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it averaged 12M. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series averaged over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the total US viewership reached 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s best postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen different tongues.
