The nail-biting extended clash where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51 million viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB reported this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday memorable contest drew over 27 million viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent rise over last year and the network’s best postseason ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
