The exciting 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined over 50 million spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball stated this marks the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest secured 27.33M audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the last Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, Game 4 ranked 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game recorded 11.6 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 p.m. local time, it drew 12M. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six frames – drew over 13 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Trends
The full seven-match World Series drew 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the total US viewership was over 16 million. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1M in the Canadian market.
The full playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and the network’s best playoff ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in 16 different languages.
