The Cubs did it, and so did Fox.
Fox’s Game 7 of the World Series, which saw the Chicago Cubs win their first title in more than a century, brought in the biggest audience for a baseball game in 25 years.
The game averaged just over 40 million viewers, the best for any baseball telecast since 1991’s game 7, which was between the Minnesota Twins and the Atlanta Braves. That game brought in 50.3 million viewers.
The audience for game 7 on Wednesday night is also bigger than game 7 of June’s NBA Finals, the Academy Awards in March, every night of August’s Rio Olympics, and more than double the viewership for this week’s “Sunday Night Football.”
The numbers for the World Series are even more impressive seeing that in 1991 TV had a lot less competition. So the viewership that Fox pulled in on Wednesday is nothing less than astounding.
Viewership for the series as a whole was high but ratings for game 7 was driven to new heights not just by the emotion but because the game itself, which saw the Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians 8-7. The finale had everything you would ever want in an elimination game: dramatic home runs, comebacks, close calls, and even a rain storm that delayed the game in extra innings.
Plus, of course, an ending that saw the Cubs end their 108 year “curse” by winning a title in theatrical fashion.
