When it comes to potential ratings-friendly matchups for Major League Baseball and Fox Sports, the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners might not make the Top 50 of possible ALCS matchups.
But when it comes to a Game 7 matchup decided on a dramatic late-inning home run, anything is possible.
The Blue Jays’ 4-3 victory over the Mariners thanks to the heroics of George Springer’s late three-run home run was a ratings winner for Fox Sports. The game drew an average of just a tick over 9 million viewers according to the network, making it the most watched ALCS game on any network since 2017. Take that New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
As the @BlueJays punched their ticket to the World Series, FOX Sports posted the most-watched #ALCS game on any network since 2017 – and @MLBONFOX‘s most-streamed Championship Series game ever. 📈 pic.twitter.com/ZL5GSAcYA7
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) October 22, 2025
Of course, you can enter the caveat that sports ratings have increased thanks to Nielsen’s new Big Data measurement system accounting for more homes than ever before. However, MLB has been riding a wave of increasing ratings since well before the new counting of viewers. And this postseason has been no exception.
Sports fans love nothing more than a Game 7… at least outside of football, that is. In spite of low ratings throughout last year’s NBA Finals, the Thunder-Pacers Game 7 was the most watched NBA game since 2019.
What makes this number all the more encouraging for baseball and Fox is that the Blue Jays being a Canadian team don’t even have one of the markets counted in the overall viewership number. That also portends to be a good sign for the World Series matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers… if the Blue Jays can keep it competitive, that is.