NEW YORK (AP) – The Chicago Cubs’ curse-breaking victory over the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 reached 40 million viewers, making it the most-watched World Series game since 1991.
The Nielsen company said the World Series as a whole averaged 23.4 million viewers. That was the most popular World Series since another curse-breaking year, when the Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004 to end a long drought.
The victory early Thursday marked the team’s first World Series championship since 1908. The Cubs did it in thrilling fashion, topping the Indians 8-7 in 10 innings for their third straight victory.
The game peaked at just under 50 million viewers between 11:30 and 11:45 p.m. ET, an extraordinary number given that it was so late for viewers on the East Coast.
It was another epic Game 7, between the Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves in 1991, that reached 50.3 million viewers, Nielsen said.