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.
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.
These increases also appear to be reflective league-wide this season, with Front Office Sports reporting in May that national MLB broadcasts were up 44 percent compared to last year.
In-game attendance also grew for the fourth straight season, with 71.5 million fans going to games in 2026, the most since 2017.
