Maybe you can’t say that Cubs-Indians Game 7 was worth the 176 year combined championship drought between the two franchises, but it definitely came close. Game 7 of the 2016 World Series was an all-time epic with the Indians coming from 4 runs down to tie it 6-6 before the Cubs went on to dramatically win 8-7 in 10 innings.
We knew all series long that this historic matchup would draw monster ratings, but the classic seventh game was the perfect storm for MLB and Fox and it delivered in a big league (or bigly) way.
The overnight rating from the top markets around the country is a 25.2 rating, which would put it in line as the most watched baseball game in the last 15 years, since Game 7 of the 2001 World Series between the Yankees and the Diamondbacks.
Overnights: 25.2 rating for Nov 2, 2016 8pm-1am ET #WorldSeries #Game7 (est. 38-42M Viewers on Fox) #FlyTheW #Cubs #RallyTogether #Indians
— Douglas Pucci (@SonOfTheBronx) November 3, 2016
How huge is that number for Major League Baseball? That’s almost double the rating for Giants-Royals Game 7 back in 2014. And the 25.2 overnight rating is in line with the most-watched baseball games of the last 20 years.
Prior #WorldSeries #Game7 in final nationals
Fox SF-KC 10/29/14 13.7 rating, 23.52M viewers
Fox SF-ANA 10/27/02 17.9 rating, 30.4M viewers
— Douglas Pucci (@SonOfTheBronx) November 3, 2016
Prior #WorldSeries #Game7 in final nationals
Fox NYY-AZ 11/04/01 23.5 rating, 39.1M viewers
NBC CLE-FLA 10/25/97 24.5 rtg, 37.99M viewers
— Douglas Pucci (@SonOfTheBronx) November 3, 2016
The local ratings were absolutely immense as well with a 48.6/69 in Cleveland and a 51.2/71 in Chicago, the highest ever rating in that city for a baseball game.
Cleveland posted a 48.6 rating and 69 share for Game 7, an incredible rating given that the Tribe were playing from behind throughout.
— Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) November 3, 2016
Game 7 earned a 51.2 rating and 71 share in triumphant Chicago, the highest baseball rating on record in the market.
— Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) November 3, 2016
What were the other 29% of people in Chicago watching!?!?!
To help put the number further in perspective, the Cubs-Indians tilt will most certainly surpass the most recent NBA Finals Game 7 as Cavs-Warriors drew 30.8 million viewers. Don’t overlook that as the NBA Finals have reversed a years long trend, getting the better of the World Series in most recent years. It’s also likely to be the most watched television program of 2016 that isn’t the Super Bowl or a Presidential Debate. When final viewership numbers come in, we’ll be sure to update.
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