Fall Classic Game 7 Attracts 51 Million Viewers In the United States, Canadian and Japanese Markets.
The thrilling 11-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run averaged a combined over 50 million viewers across the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB reported this represents the highest-rated Fall Classic finale since the 1991 showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
Last Saturday’s epic contest drew over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and Fox’s streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched World Series game since the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Astros, which drew 29.07M. This represents a 16% increase compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game ranked fourth, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game came in eighth, and the third game landed in 13th position.
Global Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game drew over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game started at 9 PM in the local time zone, it averaged 12 million viewers. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – where World Series MVP Yamamoto allowed a single run in six frames – drew 13.1 million spectators, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in Japan.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game World Series recorded over 15.7 million viewers on Fox, a two percent increase from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This marks the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total US viewership was 16.1M. The overall World Series viewership in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million viewers, an eight percent rise compared to the previous year and the network’s strongest playoff performance since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various languages.
