The Cubs ended their 71-year World Series drought in front of a big cable audience.
Game 6 of the Dodgers/Cubs National League Championship Series scored 9.7 million viewers on Fox Sports 1 Saturday night, per Nielsen fast-nationals — up 70% from Royals/Blue Jays on the same network last year, the only other LCS Game 6 in the past three years (5.6M).
Outside of the World Series and All-Star Game, it delivered the largest Major League Baseball audience since Game 5 of the Tigers/Yankees Division Series on TBS in 2011 (9.72M to 9.71M).
The Cubs’ pennant-clinching win, which peaked at 12.2 million from 10:30-10:45 PM ET, also ranks as the most-watched game in the League Championship Series since 2010. That year, Games 4 and 6 of Rangers/Yankees and Games 5 and 6 of Giants/Phillies earned a larger audience.
Saturday’s game also ranks as easily the most-watched program in the history of Fox Sports 1, topping the previous high of 7.2 million for Game 2 of the series last Sunday. The eight Cubs playoff games on FS1 this postseason rank among the network’s top nine programs.
Figures do not include Spanish-language viewership on Fox Deportes (273K) or the streaming audience on Fox Sports GO (111K).
Locally, Game 6 had a 25.8 rating in Chicago — topping last year’s Mets/Cubs Game 3 on TBS (25.1) as the highest rated baseball game in the market since the White Sox won the 2005 World Series. The game had a 10.2 in Los Angeles, down a tick from Cardinals/Dodgers Game 6 on TBS in 2013 (10.3).
(Sat numbers from Fox Sports)
