The thrilling extended clash where the Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total 51 million watchers across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB announced this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday epic game drew over 27 million viewers on Fox Sports channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game ranked 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game landed in 13th position.
Global Viewership Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game averaged over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language program in the country after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six frames – drew 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Totals and Patterns
The full seven-match World Series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the complete American average was over 16 million. The overall Fall Classic viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew 8.09M watchers, an 8% rise over the previous year and Fox’s best postseason ratings since 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
