The thrilling extended clash where the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays 5-4 attracted a total 51 million viewers across the US, Canadian, and Japan markets. MLB stated this marks the highest-rated World Series Game 7 after the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
The Saturday epic contest averaged over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. Per Nielsen, it was the second most-watched broadcast of the week.
It additionally is the most-watched World Series game after the 2017 edition Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This represents a 16% improvement compared to the last Game 7 featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the Nielsen ratings, the sixth game ranked 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and the third game landed in 13th place.
In Canada, the game recorded over 11 million viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports channel. This made it the most-watched English program in Canada after the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 p.m. in the local time zone, it attracted 12 million. This came after last Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – drew 13.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game on a single network in the country.
The entire seven-game World Series drew 15.71 million viewers on Fox, a 2% increase from the previous year’s Dodgers-Yankees matchup. This represents the initial instance after 2015 and ‘16 that the Fall Classic has recorded audience growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the Game 1 telecast on the Univision network, the complete US viewership was 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The full MLB Postseason on Fox and its sister channels recorded over 8 million viewers, an eight percent increase compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since 2017.
MLB stated that the World Series was broadcast in over 200 countries and territories by 44 media partners in sixteen various languages.
Elena Hartwell is a multidisciplinary artist and educator passionate about fostering creative communities in London.