The exciting extra-inning matchup that saw the Dodgers overcome the Toronto Blue Jays by one run drew a combined over 50 million viewers in the United States, Canada, and Japan markets. MLB stated this represents the most-watched Fall Classic Game 7 since the 1991 showdown featuring the Minnesota Twins and Braves.
Television Viewership Breakdown
The Saturday epic contest averaged over 27 million viewers on Fox channels, Fox Deportes and Fox’s digital services. Per ratings data, it was the second highest-rated program of the previous week.
It also stands as the most-watched Fall Classic matchup since the 2017 final game between the Dodgers and Houston Astros, which averaged 29.07 million. This marks a sixteen percent increase over the last finale featuring the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros, which drew 23.19 million.
In the weekly rankings, Game 6 placed 4th, the fourth game ranked seventh, Game 5 came in eighth, and Game 3 landed in thirteenth place.
International Viewership Figures
In Canada, the climactic game averaged 11.6M viewers on the Sportsnet network and the French TVA Sports. This made it the most-watched English program in the country after the 2010 edition Winter Olympics.
In the Japanese market, where the deciding contest began at 9 p.m. local time, it attracted 12 million viewers. This came after the previous Friday’s Game 6 – where Fall Classic Most Valuable Player Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed a single run in six innings – averaged 13.1 million viewers, making it the highest-rated Fall Classic matchup on a sole broadcaster in Japan.
Overall Averages and Trends
The entire seven-match series drew over 15.7 million audience members on Fox, a two percent increase from the previous year’s Dodgers versus Yankees matchup. This marks the initial instance after 2015 and 2016 that the Fall Classic has seen audience growth for two straight seasons.
Including the opening game broadcast on Univision, the total US average reached 16.1 million. The total Fall Classic viewership in Japan was 9.7 million and 8.1 million in the Canadian market.
The complete MLB Postseason on Fox, FS1 and FS2 recorded 8.09 million viewers, an eight percent increase over the previous year and Fox’s strongest postseason performance since 2017.
MLB reported that the Fall Classic was broadcast in 203 nations and regions by forty-four broadcasting partners in 16 various tongues.
