Yankees-Red Sox had MLBs best first-round Game 1 viewership in 20 years

Fans came out in droves to see “The Rivalry” play out in the postseason.Tuesday’s Yankees-Red Sox wild-card matchup averaged 7.3 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, the most-watched Game 1 among wild-card and division series games in 20 years, the network reported Thursday.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.

The 9-0 Yankees win was the most-viewed game of its category since Game 1 of the Tigers-Yankees ALDS series in 2006.Tuesday’s game peaked at 8.5 million viewers from 9-9:15 p.m.ET, and posted an overall 12 percent increase from last year’s Yankees-Red Sox wild-card series Game 1.Despite the dramatic viewership increase, the two games were lopsided in the Yankees’ favor, as they outscored Boston 18-2 across the sweep.Both games saw the Yankees’ offense explode for late-inning rallies, with the Bombers scoring five runs in the eighth of Game 1 and six runs in the sixth of Game 2.“I thought we did a lot of good things offensively,” Boone said following Game 2, “whether it was obviously a couple big long balls, Spencer legs out a strikeout to start the big inning, the stolen base comes into play, we put some balls in play, a couple of really well-computed bunt situations.” In the National League, Tuesday’s Phillies-Braves matchup was the most-watched afternoon wild-card Game 1 of all time, averaging 3.9 million viewers across NBC and Peacock.The 5-3 Braves win, which peaked at 5 million viewers from 4:30-4:45 p.m.

ET, was a 15 percent increase from the Padres-Cubs Game 1 wild-card matchup in 2025.The historic numbers come during NBC’s return to MLB playoff broadcasting for the first time in 25 years.Sign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+.

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