The thrilling extra-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a total over 50 million viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japan territories. MLB announced this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 after the 1991 contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable game averaged 27.33 million audience members on Fox networks, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. According to Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series matchup after the 2017 Game 7 between the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a 16% increase over the previous finale between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game placed 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and the third game finished in 13th position.
Global Viewership Figures
In Canada, the game drew over 11 million watchers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English broadcast in the country after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated World Series matchup on a single network in Japan.
Overall Totals and Trends
The entire seven-match series averaged 15.71 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% increase from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has recorded viewership increases for two consecutive seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the complete American viewership reached 16.1M. The total Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels averaged 8.09 million watchers, an 8% increase over last year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance since 2017.
MLB announced that the Fall Classic was televised in 203 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
