Red Sox-Yankees Game 1 draws largest Wild Card audience in 20 years

Game 1 of the MLB Wild Card series between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees averaged 7.3 million viewers on October 1, the highest for any Game 1 of an MLB playoff series since 2006. This viewership represents a 12 percent increase from last year's similar matchup. The peak audience reached 8.5 million viewers during the 9 p.m. ET quarter-hour. The game was broadcast on NBC and Peacock, which has taken over MLB's Sunday Night Baseball coverage. Earlier in the day, the game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves attracted 3.9 million viewers, marking the most-watched afternoon Wild Card Game since the best-of-three format was introduced in 2020.

• 1:00 AMYahoo Sports — Red Sox-Yankees attracts largest Game 1 Wild Card or Division Series TV audience in 20 years