Fall Classic Game 7 Draws Over 50 Million Viewers Across the US, Canadian and Japan Markets.
The nail-biting extra-inning contest that saw the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a total 51 million spectators across the United States, Canada, and Japanese markets. Major League Baseball reported this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 contest featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s epic game secured over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also stands as the top-rated World Series matchup since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 was 8th, and Game 3 finished in thirteenth position.
International Audience Figures
In Canada, the game recorded 11.6M viewers on Sportsnet and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the highest-rated English broadcast in the country since the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1 million spectators, making it the most-watched Fall Classic game on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Series Averages and Trends
The full seven-game series drew over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has recorded viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the total American average reached 16.1 million. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 drew 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff performance since 2017.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 broadcasting partners in 16 various languages.
