The thrilling 11-inning matchup where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51M spectators across the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this is the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged 27.33 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This represents a 16% increase over the last finale between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed fourth, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th position.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1M spectators, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series drew over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete US average reached 16.1 million. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew over 8 million watchers, an eight percent increase over last year and the network’s best postseason performance after 2017.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen various tongues.
