MLB All-Star Game has slight drop in viewers despite having its first swing-off

NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball’s All-Star Game — which featured the contest’s first swing-off to determine the winner — averaged 7,185,000 viewers Tuesday night on Fox, according to Nielsen.

It was Fox’s most-watched telecast since the Super Bowl and the network’s best audience for a Tuesday night since last year’s Game 4 of the World Series. However, it was a 3.5% decrease from the 2024 game and the second-lowest for the Midsummer Classic.

Kyle Schwarber’s three home runs gave the National League a 4-3 victory in the swing-off after the American League rallied to tie it at 6-6 in the ninth inning after trailing by six runs in the seventh. The audience for the game in Atlanta peaked at 8.1 million viewers from 9:15-9:30 p.m. EDT.

Major League Baseball and the players’ association made the change in 2022 amid concerns about running out of pitchers because hardly anyone throws more than an inning in the game anymore, The game was decided by having three batters from each league take three swings each off coaches in what was baseball’s equivalent of soccer’s penalty-kicks shootout.

Baseball continues to have the best ratings for an event featuring All-Stars. The NHL did not have an All-Star Game this year, while the NBA’s averaged 4.7 million on TNT. The NFL’s Pro Bowl games, a series of skills competitions and flag football, also averaged 4.7 million on ABC.