MLB All-Star viewership declined to a near record-low, but the numbers still qualify as impressive in the current era of television.
Tuesday’s MLB All-Star Game averaged a 3.8 rating and 7.19 million viewers on FOX, tying last year as the lowest rated on record and surpassing only two years ago as the least-watched (7.01M). Viewership declined 3% from last year (7.44M).
Despite the decline, the Midsummer Classic delivered easily the largest All-Star audience in sports. Baseball owns the two most-watched All-Star events, with Monday’s Home Run Derby ranking second with 5.73 million on ESPN. Both events comfortably surpassed both the NBA All-Star Game on TNT Sports and the NFL Pro Bowl Games on ESPN/ABC, both of which had 4.7 million.
(As the NHL Four Nations Face-Off was a replacement for the league’s All-Star Game, one might argue that it is technically an ‘All-Star event.’ If one were to buy that argument, the MLB All-Star Game would rank behind the Four Nations Face-Off Final, which drew 9.3 million on ESPN in February.)
The All-Star Game, which peaked with 8.1 million in the 9:15 PM ET quarter-hour, was the most-watched FOX program since the Super Bowl — though that is no surprise given considering how low the network’s viewership is outside of sports.
In an era of declining television viewership, the record-low rating for the All-Star Game had a corresponding share of 15 — up from last year (12). As has become the norm, the All-Star Game had a lower rating in adults 18-49 (1.43) than the previous night’s Home Run Derby (1.64), per Programming Insider.
It should be noted that the All-Star Game faced some rare live sports competition Tuesday night as ESPN drew 1.68 million for a Fever-Sun WNBA regular season game involving Caitlin Clark.
