On a night when the NFL offered the Dallas Cowboys as competition, Major League Baseball had one of its best ratings nights in years.
Game 5 of the Indians/Cubs World Series had a 13.1 rating and 23.6 million viewers on FOX Sunday, per Nielsen fast-nationals — up 31% in ratings and 37% in viewership from Royals/Mets last year (10.0, 17.2M) and up 79% and 87%, respectively, from Royals/Giants in 2014 (7.3, 12.6M).
The Cubs’ win ranks as the most-watched Game 5 of the World Series in 19 years, since Marlins/Indians on NBC in 1997 (24.2M). The previous high over that span was 21.3 million for Diamondbacks/Yankees in 2001. It also ranks as the highest rated Game 5 since Yankees/Marlins scored a 13.2 on FOX in 2003.
Overall, Game 5 delivered the largest audience for any Major League Baseball game since Game 7 of the Rangers/Cardinals World Series in 2011 (25.4M), surpassing the most recent Game 7 between the Giants and Royals in 2014 (23.5M). Excluding seventh games, it was the most-watched MLB telecast since Game 4 of the Red Sox/Cardinals World Series, in which Boston ended an 86-year championship drought (28.8M).
Among adults 18-49, Game 5 had a 6.7 rating — up 31% from last year (5.1), up 103% from 2014 (3.3) and the highest Game 5 rating in the demo since 2001 (7.4). It is the highest for any MLB telecast in the demo since Rangers/Cardinals Game 7 in 2011 (7.4), and the fifth-highest since 2004. All five games of the series have delivered multi-year highs in ratings, viewership and adults 18-49.
Head-to-head, Indians/Cubs finished comfortably ahead of Eagles/Cowboys on NBC’s Sunday Night Football (10.2, 18.0M) — marking the first time since 2011 that the World Series has topped SNF head-to-head. Keep in mind that the World Series has topped Monday Night Football as recently as 2013, though that is not as impressive a feat since MNF airs on cable.
Only one primetime NFL telecast all of this season has had a higher rating and viewership than Sunday’s game — Broncos/Panthers in the league’s season opener (14.6, 25.2M). Patriots/Cardinals in Week 1 also had a 13.1 rating, but a smaller audience (23.1M).
None of the above figures include Spanish-language viewership on Fox Deportes (342K) or the streaming audience of 136,000 on Fox Sports GO. With those figures included, Game 5 had 24.1 million viewers (SNF had 18.2 million with streaming added to those numbers).
Entering Game 6, the World Series is averaging an 11.0 rating and 19.3 million viewers on FOX — up 26% in ratings and 31% in viewership from Royals/Mets last year (8.7, 14.7M) and up 53% and 60%, respectively, from Royals/Giants in 2014 (7.2, 12.1M). It ranks as the highest rated World Series through five games since Yankees/Phillies in 2009 (11.4) and surpasses that series as the most-watched since 2004 (25.4M). By comparison, this years’s NBA Finals averaged a 10.4 and 18.0 million through five games.
| MOST WATCHED MLB GAMES SINCE 2004 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Year | Game | Rtg. | Vwrs. |
| 1 | 2011 | Rangers/Cardinals World Series Game 7 |
14.7 | 25.4M |
| 2 | 2016 | Indians/Cubs World Series Game 5 |
13.1 | 23.6M |
| 3 | 2014 | Giants/Royals World Series Game 7 |
13.7 | 23.5M |
| 4 | 2009 | Yankees/Phillies World Series Game 4 |
13.5 | 22.8M |
| 5 | 2009 | Phillies/Yankees World Series Game 6 |
13.4 | 22.3M |
| 6 | 2011 | Rangers/Cardinals World Series Game 6 |
12.7 | 21.1M |
| 7 | 2007 | Red Sox/Rockies World Series Game 4 |
12.6 | 20.9M |
| 8 | 2005 | White Sox/Astros World Series Game 4 |
13.0 | 20.0M |
| 9 | 2009 | Phillies/Yankees World Series Game 1 |
11.9 | 19.5M |
| 10 | 2016 | Indians/Cubs World Series Game 3 |
11.0 | 19.4M |
(Sun. numbers from Fox Sports)
