All-Star Game Draws Highest TV Audience Since 2002

It was a low-scoring affair. There were no home runs. The winning run was scored on, of all plays, a sacrifice fly.

Yet this year’s All-Star Game drew an audience of 14.6 million viewers, the highest number since the infamous tie in 2002, MediaWeek.com reports.

The report says that the Midsummer
Classic was the sixth-most watched sporting event of the year,
following the Super Bowl (98.7 million), the NCAA National Championship
Game (17.6 million), the Kentucky Derby (16.3 million), Game 4 of the
NBA Finals (16 million) and the Daytona 500 (16 million).

The game was also the most-watched since commissioner Bud Selig decided that the winner would have home-field advantage in the World Series.

The pregame show, which ended in President Barack Obama throwing out the first pitch, drew 11.2 million viewers, which was also the most since 2002.