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YANKEES SWEEP OF RED SOX ON NBC & PEACOCK IS MOST-WATCHED FIRST TWO GAMES OF MLB WILD CARD OR DIVISION SERIES SINCE 2004
Red Sox-Yankees is MLB's Most-Watched Wild Card Series under Current Format, Averaging 7.4 Million Viewers - Up 12% from First Two Games of Last Year's Boston-New York AL Wild Card
Phillies-Braves Game 2 is Most-Watched Afternoon Wild Card or Division Series Game 2 Ever (First Pitch Before 5 p.m. ET); Series Up 28% from Padres-Cubs Last Year through Two Afternoon Games
STAMFORD, Conn. - Oct. 2, 2026 - After setting viewership milestones for Tuesday's opening games of the MLB Wild Card Series presented by AbbVie, Wednesday's Game 2s on NBC/Peacock continued to deliver historic results, based on Nielsen Big Data inclusive of first party data.
In the American League Wild Card Series, the New York Yankees swept the Boston Red Sox, with the two-game series averaging 7.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, marking the most-watched first two games of any MLB Wild Card or Division Series since 2004 (Twins-Yankees in 2004 ALDS, 7.5 million average).
The Philadelphia Phillies come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves (2-5:30 p.m. ET) to even the NL Wild Card Series averaged 4.2 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, marking the most-watched afternoon Wild Card or Division Series Game 2 ever (first pitch before 5 p.m. ET).
Additional metrics from the Red Sox-Yankees and Phillies-Braves Wild Card Series:
Red-Sox Yankees
· With the two-game average of 7.4 million viewers, Red Sox-Yankees is the most-watched MLB Wild Card series under the current format (since 2020) and topped by 12% the first two games of last year's series between the same teams (6.6 million viewers).
· Wednesday night's Red Sox-Yankees was the most-watched Game 2 of any MLB Wild Card or Division Series since 2007, averaging 7.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock (8-11:21 p.m. ET).
· The audience for Wednesday's night's Game 2 peaked at 9.2 million viewers on NBC and Peacock from 9:30-9:45 p.m. ET.
Phillies-Braves
· Through Game 2, Phillies-Braves is averaging 4.1 million viewers, up 28% from last year's afternoon NL Wild Card Series (3.2 million viewers for Padres-Cubs through two games).
· The audience for Wednesday afternoon's game peaked at 5.9 million viewers from 5-5:15 p.m. ET.
· Viewership figures for Thursday night's decisive Game 3 (Atlanta won 6-2) will be available on Monday.
--NBC SPORTS -
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