The MLB All-Star Game continues to be a tentpole event for both the league and Fox Sports.
Tuesday’s MLB All-Star Game averaged 8.79 million viewers across Fox (8.68 million) and Fox Deportes (119,000), according to an announcement by Fox Sports. That’s good for the most-watched All-Star Game since 2018, when 8.70 million viewers tuned in for the contest in Washington, D.C. The game’s audience was up 21 percent versus last year’s game, which averaged 7.19 million viewers on Fox.
The 96th Midsummer Classic is a home run for @MLBONFOX ⚾️
8.794 million viewers tuned in across FOX & FOX Deportes for Tuesday’s #MLBAllStarGame – the most-watched MLB All-Star Game since 2018 and once again the most-watched All-Star event in all sports. pic.twitter.com/xPxWmoOe3Y
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) July 16, 2026
The audience peaked at 10.19 million viewers in the 8:45 p.m. ET quarter-hour.
Of course, this year’s MLB All-Star Game got a strong lead-in from a World Cup semifinal between Spain and France earlier in the afternoon on Fox. That game averaged 11.46 million viewers, per preliminary numbers from Nielsen. Understandably, that lead-in also led to a huge jump in MLB All-Star pregame viewership, with 4.10 million viewers tuning in to catch Kevin Burkhardt, Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, and Derek Jeter, up 56 percent year-over-year. Again, that was the highest pregame audience for the All-Star Game since 2018.
#AllStars on the field and at the desk! 🌟
4.102 million viewers started their night with the #MLBAllStarGame pregame show featuring @DerekJeter, @DavidOrtiz, @AROD and @KevinBurkhardt. pic.twitter.com/wprYcitEOr
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) July 16, 2026
While the MLB All-Star Game is the most-watched All-Star event across all major sports leagues in most years, this year’s NBA All-Star Game eked out a virtual tie in its first year on NBC. This year’s NBA All-Star Game averaged 8.8 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo. It’s difficult to compare this figure directly to Fox’s MLB All-Star Game number because NBC measures its streaming viewership differently. However, like Fox’s World Cup lead-in, this year’s NBA All-Star Game was buoyed by an Olympic lead-in.
Going forward, the battle between MLB and the NBA will likely remain close with the NBA All-Star Game now on broadcast with NBC, instead of cable with TNT. Next year’s All-Star Games, which won’t have the benefit of Olympic or World Cup lead-ins, might give a better indication of where these events stand.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.