Fall Classic Final Game Draws Over 50 Million Audience Members In the United States, Canada and Japanese Regions.
The exciting extended clash where the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined over 50 million viewers across the US, Canada, and Japanese territories. MLB reported this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
The Saturday epic game averaged 27.33M viewers on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the week.
It additionally stands as the top-rated World Series game after the 2017 final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent improvement compared to the previous finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game was seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
International Audience Numbers
In the Canadian market, the game drew 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game started at 9 p.m. local time, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s sixth game – in which Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew 13.1M spectators, making it the most-watched World Series game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The entire seven-game World Series drew 15.71M viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees series. This marks the initial instance since 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Including the Game 1 broadcast on the Univision network, the complete American average was over 16 million. The overall World Series viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged 8.09M viewers, an 8% increase compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since 2017.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 different tongues.
