How MLB’s July 4 experiment fared ratings wise across Fox and NBC

Major League Baseball is trying to turn the July 4 weekend into a baseball event, and it is starting to see some results in viewership.

Thanks to a FIFA World Cup Round of 32 lead-out, the MLB All-Star Game Selection Show on Saturday, July 4th, averaged 5.90 million viewers on Fox. That is by far the most-watched selection show since its inception in 2007.

Despite a rain delay affecting one of the games, Baseball Night in America after the selection show also posted strong viewership. The window, highlighted by Braves-Mets, averaged 3.34 million viewers on Fox. That is the second most-watched game this year, behind Yankees-Red Sox two weeks ago on Sunday Night Baseball, and the highest linear-only audience of the season.

Viewership fared less well for Star Spangled Sunday on NBC, as every game on Sunday, July 5, aired on Peacock. Mets-Braves and Dodgers-Padres were also simulcast on NBC. Mets-Braves, which was delayed by rain, averaged 1.80 million viewers, while Padres-Dodgers averaged 2.06 million. On a linear TV basis, Padres-Dodgers is on par with Pirates-Mets from the afternoon on Opening Day. When adding in Peacock, the numbers rise to 1.9 million viewers for Mets vs. Braves and 2.3 million for Padres vs. Dodgers.

The Star Spangled Sunday concept faced criticism from fans, especially those who had exclusive games on other platforms, like Apple TV, on Friday earlier in the same series. It can be a hard sell to convince people to subscribe to Peacock for a one-off game.

Of course, this year’s edition faced unusually strong competition from the FIFA World Cup. So don’t be surprised if NBC doesn’t make any major changes to the concept next year, when less competition might give the network a better gauge of what viewers actually think.