The thrilling 11-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a combined 51 million viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB reported this marks the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged 27.33M audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 was eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth place.
Global Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English-language broadcast in Canada since the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final game started at 9 PM local time, it drew 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Totals and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series averaged over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American viewership was over 16 million. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent increase compared to the previous year and Fox’s best postseason performance after 2017.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in 16 different tongues.
