MLB All-Star Game Ratings Slump Continues

Tuesday’s MLB All-Star Game averaged a 3.9 Nielsen rating and 7.01 million viewers on FOX, slumping to record-low viewership for the Midsummer Classic.

The game reached 7.09 million viewers across all FOX platforms and was down 7% from the previous MLB ASG ratings low set last year, according to SportsMediaWatch. Viewership for the MLB All-Star Game has now set a new low in five of the past seven years the game was played (2016, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023).

In 2014, the MLB All-Star Game averaged a 7.0 Nielsen rating 11.34 million viewers. This year’s game topped out at 7.57 million peak viewers, still serving as the most-watched All-Star event in sports. Disney’s coverage of the NFL Pro Bowls Games in January mustered 6.28 million viewers, while February’s NBA All-Star Game on TNT and TBS had 4.59M viewers.

Host city Seattle was Fox’s leading market for MLB ASG viewership, followed by Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia to round out the top five.

Both of MLB’s marquee All-Star break events face declining viewership, as ESPN’s coverage of the Home Run Derby on Monday averaged 6.11 million viewers, its lowest total since 2018.

However, MLB’s All-Star Game and Home Run Derby still performed favorably compared to last year’s MLB Postseason games outside of the World Series. The most-watched 2022 playoff game before the World Series was Yankees-Astros Game 2 in the ALCS, which averaged 5.89 million viewers on TBS.