World Series Game 5 surprises with high TV rating, beats ‘Sunday Night Football’
The Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs play in Game Five of the 2016 World Series at Wrigley Field on October 30, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. Credit: Getty Images / Stacy Revere
Game 5 of the World Series on Sunday night averaged 23.6 million viewers on Fox, making it the most-watched Game 5 since 1997 and the most-watched baseball game of any kind since Game 7 of the 2011 World Series between the Rangers and Cardinals averaged 25.4 million.
Those figures were even more impressive given the competition on NBC, where the Eagles and ratings-friendly Cowboys played a close game but finished well behind baseball, averaging 18 million viewers.
The Royals’ Series-clinching victory over the Mets last season in Game 5 averaged 17.2 million.
Through five games the Cubs-Indians series is averaging 19.3 million viewers, and with a huge audience expected to tune in for Game 6 Tuesday night — and with no NFL competition — the current series is certain to become the most-viewed World Series since 2004, when the Red Sox ended their long title drought. That series averaged 25.4 million viewers even though the Red Sox swept the Cardinals.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
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