Fall Classic Game 7 Captures 51M Audience Members Across the US, Canadian and Japanese Regions.
The nail-biting extra-inning clash that saw the Dodgers beat the Blue Jays by one run attracted a combined 51M watchers across the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. Major League Baseball reported this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 edition showdown between the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Broadcast Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest drew over 27 million audience members on Fox networks, its Spanish-language channel and Fox’s digital services. According to Nielsen, it was the second highest-rated broadcast of the week.
It also is the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 edition final game involving the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged over 29 million. This marks a 16% improvement compared to the last Game 7 between the Washington Nationals and Astros, which attracted 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, the sixth game placed fourth, the fourth game ranked 7th, the fifth game came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Figures
In the Canadian market, the climactic game recorded 11.6M watchers on the Sportsnet network and the French-language TVA Sports. This was the most-watched English-language broadcast in Canada after the 2010 edition Vancouver Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding game began at 9 PM local time, it attracted 12 million. This followed the previous Friday’s Game 6 – in which Fall Classic MVP Yamamoto gave up a single run in six innings – recorded 13.1M viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic game on a single network in the country.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match World Series recorded over 15.7 million audience members on the Fox network, a two percent rise from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This represents the first time after 2015 and ‘16 that the World Series has seen viewership growth for two consecutive seasons.
Counting the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total US viewership was over 16 million. The total Fall Classic average in Japan was 9.7M and 8.1 million in Canada.
The complete playoffs on Fox and its sister channels recorded 8.09M viewers, an 8% increase compared to last year and Fox’s best playoff ratings since the 2017 season.
Major League Baseball stated that the Fall Classic was televised in over 200 countries and territories by forty-four broadcasting partners in sixteen various tongues.
