The nail-biting extended matchup that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total over 50 million spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball stated this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic game averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally is the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 final game involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement over the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million viewers.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game finished in 13th place.
Global Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – drew over 13 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series averaged over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 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 average reached over 16 million. The overall World Series average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million watchers, an 8% rise over the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance since the 2017 season.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
