The 2024 World Series may have been short, but the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees still proved they can draw crowds.

Game 5 of the World Series drew an average of 18.6 million viewers across Fox, Fox Deportes and Fox's streaming services, the network announced, making it the most-watched Game 5 on Fox since the 2017 World Series. The Dodgers won the game 7-6 and secured their eighth title.

The numbers are a 58% increase over Game 5 of last year's World Series between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks, continuing a trend that began with Game 1. With a title within reach, Los Angeles posted higher local metrics than New York, with a 21.1 rating and 55 share.

Viewership peaked between 11:15 and 11:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, around the time the Dodgers took the lead early in the eighth inning and Blake Treinen had to defend that lead with a scoreless frame.

Overall, the World Series averaged 15.8 million viewers per game, the league's highest since 2017.

For this reason, Fox probably wishes the Yankees would hold out a little longer. The network reportedly averaged $44.3 million in advertising revenue through the first five games, with a chance for even higher numbers in Games 6 and 7.

However, that's only half the story about the ratings bonanza. There's also the matter of Japan, who had record numbers in the first two games of the series. Considering that national hero Shohei Ohtani was on the verge of a breakthrough to the title in Games 4 and 5, the numbers for this region are likely to be even higher at this point.

It's perhaps worth asking how the numbers from just seven years ago are a victory for MLB, given that it's hard to imagine a better matchup from a ratings perspective, but the league has been struggling with an industry-wide decline for years the number of viewers on television.

The period since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has been particularly tough for the sports industry, meaning that almost every major league will return to the same level as seven years ago. Except the NFL, of course.