The thrilling extended contest where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a combined 51 million spectators across the United States, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB stated this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s memorable contest averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It also is the top-rated World Series game since the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew 29.07M. This marks a 16% improvement over the last finale between the Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19M.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 ranked fourth, Game 4 was 7th, Game 5 came in 8th, and the third game finished in thirteenth place.
International Audience Numbers
In Canada, the climactic game recorded 11.6M watchers on Sportsnet and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English-language broadcast in the country after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-game series averaged 15.71M viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This represents the first time since 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the total US viewership was 16.1 million. The total World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09 million watchers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and the network’s best playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four media partners in sixteen various tongues.
