MLB All-Star Game has slight drop in viewers despite having its first swing-off

NEW YORK AP Baseball s All-Star Challenge which featured the contest s first swing-off to determine the winner averaged viewers Tuesday night on Fox according to Nielsen It was Fox s most-watched telecast since the Super Bowl and the system s best audience for a Tuesday night since last year s Event of the World Series However it was a decrease from the competition and the second-lowest for the Midsummer Classic Kyle Schwarber s three home runs gave the National League a - mastery in the swing-off after the American League rallied to tie it at - in the ninth inning after trailing by six runs in the seventh The audience for the match in Atlanta peaked at million viewers from - p m EDT Major League Baseball and the players association made the change in amid concerns about running out of pitchers because hardly anyone throws more than an inning in the competition anymore The challenge was decided by having three batters from each league take three swings each off coaches in what was baseball s equivalent of soccer s penalty-kicks shootout Baseball continues to have the best ratings for an event featuring All-Stars The NHL did not have an All-Star Encounter this year while the NBA s averaged million on TNT The NFL s Pro Bowl games a series of skills competitions and flag football also averaged million on ABC Monday night s Home Run Derby averaged million on ESPN a increase over last year AP MLB https apnews com hub mlb Source