Fall Classic Final Game Attracts 51 Million Audience Members Across the US, Canadian and Japanese Markets.
The thrilling extra-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 averaged a aggregate 51M spectators across the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB reported this is the highest-rated World Series Game 7 since the 1991 showdown featuring the Twins and Atlanta Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Details
The Saturday memorable contest secured 27.33 million audience members on Fox channels, its Spanish-language channel and their streaming platforms. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It also stands as the top-rated Fall Classic matchup after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, which drew over 29 million. This marks a 16% increase compared to the last finale featuring the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed fourth, the fourth game ranked seventh, the fifth game was 8th, and Game 3 landed in 13th place.
International Audience Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the highest-rated English program in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million. This came after last Friday’s sixth game – in which World Series MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The entire seven-game series drew over 15.7 million viewers on the Fox network, a 2% rise from last year’s Dodgers-Yankees series. This represents the first time after 2015 and 2016 that the World Series has seen audience increases for two consecutive years.
Including the opening game telecast on Univision, the total American average reached over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1M in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09M viewers, an eight percent rise compared to last year and Fox’s strongest playoff performance since 2017.
MLB stated that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four media partners in 16 various languages.
