The exciting extra-inning clash that saw the Dodgers overcome the Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51 million spectators across the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this represents the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew over 27 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game finished in 13th position.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-match series recorded 15.71M viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded audience increases for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the total US average was 16.1 million. The overall World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise over last year and the network’s best postseason performance since the 2017 season.
MLB announced that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
