Baseball is back: Record-breaking viewership of the 2025 World Series | Game 7 comparison with NBA
A huge number of viewers tuned in for what was one of the most memorable World Series events in recent times.
In case you were worried, this year’s 2025 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays delivered a powerful signal that baseball remains very much in the national conversation.
The championship series culminated in an 11-inning thriller in Game 7 that drew an average of 25.98 million viewers across Fox Sports platforms, including 25.45 million on the main network, making it the most-watched World Series game since 2017.
In Canada the figures were equally striking: the Blue Jays’ first appearance in the Fall Classic in decades generated an average audience of 10.9 million on Sportsnet, and at some point during the game 18.5 million Canadians, nearly 45 per cent of the country’s population, tuned in.
The peak moment on U.S. airwaves hit approximately 31.5 million viewers (11:30-11:45 p.m. ET).
25,984,000 viewers tuned in for the @Dodgers back-to-back, dramatic clinch of the Fall Classic across FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX Sports streaming services - the most since 2017. 🏆
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) November 3, 2025
🏔️ On FOX, #WorldSeries Game 7 peaked with 31,543,000 viewers from 11:30-11:45 PM ET
Numbers are… pic.twitter.com/xR0CNPh7oV
These numbers compare favourably across recent history. For context, the deciding game of the 2025 NBA Finals, won by the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Indiana Pacers, averaged 16.4 million viewers on ABC.
That means Game 7 of baseball’s flagship postseason event beat the NBA’s output by roughly 9 million viewers in the U.S. alone.
Baseball’s broader media impact appears to be on the up: this World Series not only drew high numbers in the U.S. but managed significant international interest through the Canadian market and global stars to broaden appeal. The Canadian viewership brought the audience into territory usually only seen during global events, rather than domestic league games.
Meanwhile, the NBA, while posting its own highs for the Finals Game 7, still recorded its lowest seven-game series average in modern history - around 10.2 million.
Game 7 of the World Series drew 50% more viewers than Game 7 of the NBA Finals. pic.twitter.com/ysfe36buFH
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) November 3, 2025
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