It was a more interesting weekend than usual in terms of soccer TV ratings as the FA Cup returned to the airwaves as Everton-Manchester United and Crystal Palace-Watford battled to try to win their way to the final. Unfortunately for most viewers, the games were pushed to FOX Sports 2, so the lackluster TV ratings were either (1) a reflection of the declining interest in the FA Cup, (2) the continued poor ratings on FOX Sports 2 or (3) a combination of both factors.

FA Cup aside, Leicester continues to score impressive TV ratings as the club’s game against Swansea was the most-watched English-language soccer game during the weekend. Meanwhile, La Liga’s trio of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid scored impressive numbers, while the ever-consistent Liga MX pulled in the big numbers yet again.

At the opposite end of the most-watched games, this past weekend’s numbers show how few people are watching Serie A on US television. Even the scudetto-winning match between Fiorentina and Juventus only drew 27.000 viewers, which was just 4,000 people more than the 23,000 who watched Preston against Burnley. Both games were on beIN SPORTS. The decline of Serie A from the 1980s until now is sad to see.

Pos. Teams No. of viewers TV Network Game time (ET) Date
           
1 Leicester vs. Swansea 569,000 NBCSN 11:15am-1:15pm Sun., April 24
2 Barcelona vs. Sporting 511,000 beIN SPORTS en Español 2:30-4:30pm Sat., April 23
3 Veracruz vs. Cruz Azul 441,000 Univision Deportes 11pm-12:30am Fri., April 22
4 Sunderland vs. Arsenal 430,000 NBCSN 8:30-10:30am Sun., April 24
5 Liverpool vs. Newcastle 425,000 NBCSN & NBC Universo 10am-Noon Sat., April 23
6 Rayo vs. Real Madrid 364,000 beIN SPORTS & beIN SPORTS en Español 10am-Noon Sat., April 23
7 Atletico Madrid vs. Malaga 363,000 beIN SPORTS & beIN SPORTS en Español 12:15-2:15pm Sat., April 23
8 Club America vs. Toluca 340,000 Univision Deportes 6-8pm Sat., April 23
9 Pachuca vs. Chivas 340,000 NBC Universo 9-11pm Sat., April 23
10 Tottenham vs. WBA 313,000 NBCSN & NBC Universo 3-5pm Mon., April 25
11 UNAM vs. Tijuana 290,000 Univision Deportes 8:45-10:45pm Fri., April 22
12 Everton vs. Man United 289,000 FOX Sports 2 & FOX Deportes 12:15-2:15pm Sat., April 23
13 Manchester City vs. Stoke 278,000 NBCSN & NBC Universo 7:45-9:45am Sat., April 23
14 Monterrey vs. Queretaro 263,000 Univision Deportes 8-10pm Sat., April 23
15 Puebla vs. Jaguares 253,000 Univision Deportes 6-8pm Sun., April 24
16 Bournemouth vs. Chelsea 211,000 USA 10am-Noon Sat., April 23
17 New York Red Bulls vs. Orlando 208,000 FOX Sports 1 & FOX Deportes 8-10pm Sun., April 24
18 San Jose vs. Kansas City 180,000 ESPN 4-6pm Sun., April 24
19 Eibar vs. Deportivo 120,000 beIN SPORTS en Español 4:30-6:30pm Sat., April 23
20 Crystal Palace vs. Watford 94,000 FOX Sports 2 & FOX Deportes 11am-1pm Sun., April 24
21 Hertha Berlin vs. Bayern Munich 76,000 FOX Sports 2 & FOX Deportes 9:30-11:30am Sat., April 23
22 Villarreal vs. Sociedad 72,000 beIN SPORTS en Español 2:30-4:30pm Sun., April 24
23 Rio Ave vs. Benfica 56,000 Univision Deportes 4-6pm Sun., April 24
24 PSG vs. Lille 46,000 beIN SPORTS 3-5pm Sat., April 23
25 Getafe vs. Valencia 45,000 beIN SPORTS & beIN SPORTS en Español 12:15-2:15pm Sun., April 24
26 Hamburg vs. Werder Bremen 41,000 FOX Sports 2 & FOX Deportes 2:30-4:30pm Fri., April 22
27 Frankfurt vs. Mainz 39,000 FOX Deportes 1:30-3:30pm Sun., April 24
28 Sevilla vs. Real Betis 35,000 beIN SPORTS en Español 10am-Noon Sun., April 24
29 Fiorentina vs. Juventus 27,000 beIN SPORTS 2:45-4:45pm Sun., April 24
30 Preston vs. Burnley 23,000 beIN SPORTS 2:45-4:45pm Fri., April 22
31 Sporting vs. Madeira 21,000 Univision Deportes 1:30-3:30pm Sat., April 23
32 Las Palmas vs. Espanyol 19,000 beIN SPORTS en Español 3-5pm Fri., April 22
33 Hellas Verona vs. AC Milan 19,000 beIN SPORTS & beIN SPORTS en Español 11am-1pm Mon., April 25
34 Tampa Bay vs. Carolina Railhawks 13,000 beIN SPORTS 7:30-9:30pm Sat., April 23
35 Roma vs. Napoli 10,000 beIN SPORTS & beIN SPORTS en Español 9-11am Mon., April 25
36 Derby vs. Sheffield Wednesday 8,000 beIN SPORTS 7:30-9:30am Sat., April 23
37 Sampdoria vs. Lazio 6,000 beIN SPORTS 9-11am Sun., April 24
38 Carpi vs. Empoli 4,000 beIN SPORTS 1-3pm Mon., April 25

Note that viewing figures for soccer games shown on the over-the-air Univision network have not been made available.

SEE MORE: Browse through all of the TV ratings data from now through 2006

HT SportsTV Ratings