The thrilling extra-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 drew a aggregate 51M watchers in the US, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 edition contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Details
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s streaming platforms. According to ratings data, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally stands as the most-watched Fall Classic game since the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This represents a sixteen percent improvement compared to the last Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked fourth, the fourth game was 7th, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 finished in 13th place.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6 million viewers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language program in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it drew 12M. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series game on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-match series averaged over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete American average reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise compared to the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings after 2017.
MLB reported that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
