If it seems like there’s a preponderance of extraordinary young talent in the big leagues this year, it’s because there is. There’s both empirical (the average player age weighted by Wins Above Replacement is the lowest it’s been this millennium) and anecdotal evidence (Bryce Harper and Mike Trout are human wrecking balls who still can’t rent cars in multiple states).

Stars like Harper, Trout, Sonny Gray, Dallas Keuchel, Kris Bryant and Joc Pederson will get the chance to put baseball’s phenomenal youth movement on display at the All-Star Game Tuesday night in Cincinnati. For Fox Sports, televising the game for the 17th time, it’s a chance to maximize exposure of those stars, many of whom still aren’t household names.

“This is a much more exciting, compelling game than anything the NFL comes up with for the Pro Bowl,” said Joe Buck, who has broadcast every All-Star Game on Fox.

Coverage on Fox Sports 1 begins Monday afternoon with a special edition of its studio show, MLB Whiparound in L.A. The show will feature live look-ins to Cincinnati for the All-Star Game press conferences. At five o’clock, a second hour will preview that night’s Home Run Derby.

On Tuesday night, host Michael Burkhardt will be joined by Frank Thomas and Pete Rose to preview the game, before coverage heads over to Fox for the official pregame show at seven. Major League Baseball will also be revealing the winners of its “Franchise Four” balloting, in which fans voted for the top four players in the history of each big league team.

A number of baseball’s big-time sponsors are back this year, including T-Mobile. The wireless company will sponsor All-Star FanFest for a third straight year and is Fox’s first-ever presenting sponsor of the game itself. The sponsorship will include on-air integrations on Fox and Fox Deportes plus social media fan activations.

Earlier this year, Esurance became sponsors of the All-Star Game ballot, with the entire system moving to digital. The sponsorship was part of a new multi-year agreement with MLB.

Following the tie-game debacle in Milwaukee 13 years ago, Major League Baseball decided “Now It Counts,” awarding the winning league home-field advantage for the World Series. The stipulation has been decried as a shallow promotional ploy or lauded as a way to spice things up ever since. Fox’s cadre of on-air talent was split in a conference call with reporters on Thursday afternoon.

“I think it should go even further,” said Buck, who feels managers should manage like it’s a real game, instead of trying to get every player onto the field. “I’d like to see the starters play like we’re used to,” meaning later into games. Rose agreed. The Big Hurt, not so much.

“We need to get back to awarding players and get back to not having it count,” said the Hall of Fame slugger.

Whether or not playing for home-field advantage has drawn viewers to the Midsummer Classic, the game is holding its own against other All-Star games. While regular season baseball continues to chart well behind the NBA and of course the NFL in TV ratings, the All-Star Game has held steady. Last year’s contest drew 11.3 million viewers, the highest number in four years, while the NFL’s Pro Bowl came in at just 8.77. The NBA drew 7.2 million for its February All-Star Game, which experienced stiff competition, going up against NBC’s SNL 40 special.

Still, from a macro perspective, the All-Star Game is drawing far fewer viewers than it did when network TV was king. The 1980 edition on ABC drew more than three times the viewership of last year’s game, a trend not unique to baseball in this age of splintered eyeballs and one thousand channel cable systems.

Baseball is no doubt hoping it’s younger stars will help connect its summer showcase to younger viewers. You can bet Fox is too.

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