Fall Classic Final Game Attracts Over 50 Million Viewers In the United States, Canadian and Japan Regions.
The thrilling extended clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays by one run averaged a total 51M viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball stated this marks the most-watched World Series Game 7 after the 1991 contest between the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Television Ratings Breakdown
The Saturday epic game secured 27.33M audience members on Fox Sports networks, Fox Deportes and their digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the week.
It also is the most-watched World Series matchup since the 2017 edition final game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement over the previous finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19M.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, Game 4 ranked seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the game averaged over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English broadcast in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In Japan, where the deciding game began at 9 PM local time, it averaged 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in six innings – drew 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Overall Averages and Patterns
The full seven-match series recorded 15.71 million audience members on the Fox network, a 2% increase from the previous 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 straight years.
Including the opening game broadcast on the Univision network, the total American average was 16.1M. The overall Fall Classic average in the Japanese market was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox, FS1 and FS2 averaged over 8 million watchers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and the network’s strongest postseason ratings since 2017.
MLB stated that the World Series was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
