The 112th World Series kicked off Monday night as the Chicago Cubs went up against the Cleveland Indians in a historic matchup — historic because the two teams have been such losers. The Indians took the first game in a decisive win, 6-0, over the Cubs. TV ratings hit a seven-year high, according to TV Line, drawing 18.7 million viewers.

Combined, these two teams have gone 176 years without a World Series title.

Related: Cubs Headed to World Series

For the Cubs, it’s been 108 years. The last time the Indians won the World Series it was 1948 — a mere 68 years.

“The baseball gods are really happy right now,” the Indians’ Mike Napoli told The New York Times before the first game. “I think it’s going to be a special World Series. There’s two droughts, and there’s going to be a winner.”

Chicago has a slightly bigger claim to bragging rights — in the last 50 years, the town has racked up 11 major sports championships, while Cleveland has earned just one.

And the Cubs are the favorite going into the World Series because they won 103 games in the regular season — nine more than the Indians.

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The series opened in Cleveland in a doubly big night for sports fans. The Cleveland Cavaliers, who snagged the 2016 NBA title, played next door to the Indians at the Quicken Loans Arena as they started their season. The Cavs’ win broke a title drought for the city that stretched back to the Cleveland Browns’ 1964 NFL championship.

Just how crazy are the fans as a result of all of this?

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As of Tuesday, StubHub had tickets for Tuesday’s Game 1 in Cleveland, ranging from $815 for standing room only — up to a Diamond Box single ticket selling for $10,000. Prices are even higher for games at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. Tickets for Game 3 on Friday began at $1,000 for limited-view seats.

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While tickets are in high demand, does that also mean a Chicago-Cleveland World Series will rack up big nationwide TV ratings?

Viewership numbers for the World Series have been declining in recent years, hitting a low in 2012 of only 12.7 million viewers for the matchup between the San Francisco Giants and the Detroit Tigers.

[lz_bulleted_list title=”World Series Viewership Totals” source=”http://www.wikipedia.org”]1986: 36.4 million – Mets vs. Red Sox|1991: 35.7 million – Twins vs. Braves|1987: 35.3 million – Twins vs. Cardinals|1985: 34.5 million – Royals vs. Cardinals|1988 — 34.5 million – Dodgers vs. Athletics[/lz_bulleted_list]

Two factors work in favor of the 2016 World Series being popular on TV.

First, the Cubs’ streak is really long.

Second, the Cubs have national appeal, with fans spread out over the country — in part because their games were carried nationally on WGN over the years and aired to a nationwide audience. Game 1 will set the standard and either lure viewers in or turn them away.

One behind-the scenes special story that’s giving fans a reason to tune in revolves around the bond between Cubs’ teammates Anthony Rizzo, the first baseman, and starting pitcher Jon Lester. Rizzo was diagnosed with limited state classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2008. Lester found out in 2006 that he had cancer — cancer-anaplastic large cell lymphoma. Both men have overcome much to take the field. And now they’re like brothers.

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“Jon helped Anthony through a very tough time, so they have a relationship none us can have,” third baseman Kris Bryant told ESPN. “They’re leaders for this team, and their past experiences shaped that.”

The first pitch was set to be thrown at 8:08 p.m. ET on Fox. Charlie Sheen, who played “Wild Thing” Rick Vaughn in the popular 1989 baseball movie “Major League,” volunteered to throw out that first pitch. But Major League Baseball opted to ask former player Kenny Lofton to do it.

Pop star Rachel Platten sang the national anthem.

This article has been updated to reflect the score of the first game.