The exciting extended matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a aggregate 51 million spectators in the US, Canadian, and Japanese territories. MLB stated this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 showdown between the Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
Last Saturday’s memorable contest drew 27.33 million audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the previous week.
It additionally is the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 edition Game 7 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07M. This marks a sixteen percent increase compared to the last Game 7 between the Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth position.
Global Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in Canada since the 2010 Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million viewers. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series Most Valuable Player Yamamoto gave up one run in six innings – recorded 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The full seven-game World Series drew 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two straight years.
Counting the opening game telecast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership reached 16.1M. The total World Series average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels drew over 8 million watchers, an eight percent rise over the previous year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 nations and regions by 44 media partners in sixteen different tongues.
