The exciting extra-inning contest where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined 51M spectators in the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball stated this is the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 contest between the Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This represents a 16% increase compared to the previous Game 7 featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game was eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded audience growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total US average was 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09M watchers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and Fox’s best postseason performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 various tongues.
