The MLB All-Star Game finished with its lowest viewership yet on Tuesday night from DC. The Fox telecast, which went to extra innings, averaged 8.69 million viewers, just beneath the previous low set two years ago from San Diego (8.71 million). The ’18 ASG also is down 6% from 9.28 million viewers last year. The game in ’15 drew 10.91 million viewers, while the ’14 ASG, which was Derek Jeter’s last time at the event, averaged 11.34 million viewers. When streaming and Fox Deportes are factored in, the ’18 ASG had a TAD of 8.85 million viewers. That includes an average minute audience of 91,000 viewers on Fox streaming platforms, marking the most-streamed MLB ASG on record. Last year, the ASG had an average minute audience of 49,000 viewers, while two years ago, that figure was 74,000 (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
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MLB ALL-STAR GAME AUDIENCE TREND ON FOX
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YEAR
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LOCATION
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VIEWERS (000)
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'18^
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DC
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8,688
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'17
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Miami
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9,280
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'16
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San Diego
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8,707
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'15
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St. Louis
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10,914
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'14
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Minneapolis
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11,338
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NOTE: ^ = Game lasted 10 innings.
HARPING ON THINGS: Nationals RF Bryce Harper’s dramatic win over Cubs LF Kyle Schwarber in the Home Run Derby on Monday night averaged 5.57 million viewers on ESPN, down 32% from last year, when the Derby field had more top-to-bottom star power with the likes of Giancarlo Stanton and then-rookie-sensation Aaron Judge. Monday night’s telecast is up around 1% from two years ago for Stanton’s win. This year’s event also got another 330,000 viewers for a Statcast version of the Derby on ESPNews (ESPN2 was airing Las Vegas Summer League final between the Trail Blazers and Lakers). Last year, ESPN2 got 183,000 viewers for a similar secondary telecast of the Derby (Karp).
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MLB HOME RUN DERBY AUDIENCE TREND ON ESPN
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YEAR
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VIEWERS (000)
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WINNER
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'18
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5,567
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Nationals RF Bryce Harper
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'17
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8,167
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Yankees RF Aaron Judge
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'16
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5,524
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Marlins RF Giancarlo Stanton
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'15^
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7,126
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Reds 3B Todd Frazier
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'14*
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5,402
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A's RF Yoenis Cespedes
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NOTES: ^ = First year under new format. * = Event was delayed by an hour due to rain.
HANGING LOOSE: WEEI-AM's Christian Fauria said while he was watching the All-Star Game he saw a "great example of how baseball can change the perception, how they can gain more fans [and] how they can earn more attention." Fauria said having reporters "on the field, mic-ing up players [and] allowing guys to bat-flip without any retribution" allowed fans to "learn something about" the players themselves. Fauria: "The players enjoy it. No one wants to act like a clown but every now and then you have to let your hair down. This is what happens when baseball doesn’t take themselves so seriously” (“Time to Schein,” CBSSN, 7/18). In Tampa, Marc Topkin writes MLB "relaxed the rules for a game that no longer counts and turned up the charm Tuesday, and it went over well" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 7/19).
