The nail-biting 11-inning clash where the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined 51 million watchers in the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets. MLB reported this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Ratings Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable game secured 27.33 million viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. According to ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a sixteen percent increase compared to the previous Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked fourth, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
Global Audience Figures
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language program in Canada since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the final contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million. This followed last Friday’s sixth game – where World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – averaged 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 World Series recorded 15.71M audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive years.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the total American average reached 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff ratings after 2017.
MLB announced that the World Series was televised in 203 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen different languages.
