Fall Classic Game 7 Attracts Over 50 Million Audience Members Across the United States, Canadian and Japanese Markets.
The exciting 11-inning matchup that saw the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the Blue Jays 5-4 drew a combined over 50 million viewers across the United States, Canadian, and Japan territories. Major League Baseball announced this marks the highest-rated Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition contest between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Details
The Saturday epic game secured over 27 million audience members on Fox Sports channels, Fox Deportes and their streaming platforms. Per ratings data, it was the second most-watched program of the previous week.
It additionally is the top-rated Fall Classic game since the 2017 Game 7 involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement over the previous Game 7 between the Nationals and Astros, which drew 23.19 million viewers.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 ranked 4th, the fourth game was seventh, the fifth game came in 8th, and the third game landed in thirteenth position.
International Viewership Numbers
In Canada, the game drew over 11 million watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports channel. This was the most-watched English-language program in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the final game began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million. This followed last Friday’s Game 6 – in which World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1M viewers, making it the most-watched Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in the country.
Series Averages and Patterns
The full seven-game series averaged over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent rise from last year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the first time since 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has recorded viewership growth for two straight years.
Counting the opening game telecast on Univision, the total American average was over 16 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded over 8 million viewers, an 8% rise over the previous year and Fox’s strongest playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball reported that the World Series was broadcast in 203 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.