FOX Sports hits low with their worst ever MLS TV ratings

MLS and FOX Sports experienced another poor weekend with Sunday evening’s matchup between the Seattle Sounders and Real Salt Lake attracting only 50,000 viewers on FOX Sports 1 and an additional 6,000 on FOX Deportes. Not only are those the worst numbers for any game this season, they are also record lows for both networks. And the poor numbers aren’t only recent or because of the Rio Olympics. Since May 15, no MLS match on FOX Sports 1 has surpassed 200,000 viewers.

Friday night’s MLS game on Univision Deportes Network was watched by 53,000 viewers.

Still, for the season to date, FOX Sports is up 35%, ESPN is up 42% while Univision is up 23% compared to last year’s numbers for each respective network. But the downturn in the recent numbers, particularly FOX Sports, will be of concern especially during August which is traditionally a big month for Major League Soccer TV ratings.

FOX Sports saw two more curtain raisers this week as Real Madrid defeated Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup last Tuesday while Bayern Munich bested Borussia Dortmund in the DFL-SuperCup Sunday afternoon. Neither managed to beat the 292,000 viewers from the previous week’s FA Community Shield match (Leicester-Man United) with 272,000 viewers tuning in for the UEFA Super Cup and only 182,000 for the DFL-SuperCup. Also on Sunday, 262,000 people watched the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup on ESPN. Numbers for yesterday’s second leg are not available as of press time.

On a positive note, the Premier League kicked off this weekend on the networks of NBC with Sunday’s matchup between Arsenal and Liverpool on NBCSN attracting 745,000 viewers, a record for a Premier league opening weekend match on American cable television.

Liga MX once again remained strong against Olympic competition once again averaging more than 500,000 viewers per match window. Thus far Liga MX and the Premier League appear to be the only soccer leagues to be mostly unaffected by the ongoing Olympic games in Rio.

Here’s the TV ratings data for last week (all times Eastern US):

Domestic Numbers for the Week

Date	Competition	Start Time	Home	Away	Network 1	Network 2	Total
8/9/16	Olympics (W)	6:00 PM	Colombia	United States	NBCSN; 3,600,000	NBC Universo; Not available	3,600,000
8/9/16	US Open Cup	8:00 PM	New England Revolution	Chicago Fire	ESPN2; 80,000	ESPN Deportes; Not available	80,000
8/10/16	US Open Cup	10:00 PM	Los Angeles Galaxy	FC Dallas	ESPN2; 88,000	ESPN Deportes; Not available	88,000
8/12/16	Olympics (W)	12:00 PM	United States	Sweden	NBCSN; 1,850,000	NBC Universo; Not available	1,850,000
8/12/16	MLS	11:00 PM	Vancouver Whitecaps	San Jose Earthquakes	UniMás; Not available	Univision Deportes; 53,000	?
8/13/16	NASL	7:30 PM	Carolina Railhawks	Puerto Rico FC	beIN Sports; 3,000	—	3,000
8/14/16	MLS	4:00 PM	Chicago Fire	Orlando City SC	UniMás; Not available	Univision Deportes; 41,000	?
8/14/16	MLS	7:00 PM	Seattle Sounders	Real Salt Lake	Fox Sports 1; 50,000	Fox Deportes; 6,000	56,000

Foreign Matches on American Television

Date	Competition	Start Time	Team 1	Team 2	Network 1	Network 2	Total
8/9/16	UEFA Super Cup	2:45 PM	Real Madrid	Sevilla	Fox Sports 1; 109,000	Fox Deportes; 163,000	272,000
8/9/16	Copa MX	8:00 PM	Lobos BUAP	Toluca	—	Univision Deportes; 59,000	59,000
8/9/16	Copa MX	10:00 PM	Mineros Zacatecas	Venados FC	—	Univision Deportes; 56,000	56,000
8/10/16	EFL Cup	2:45 PM	Fleetwood Town	Leeds United	—	beIN Español; 1,000	1,000
8/10/16	EFL Cup	2:45 PM	Luton Town	Aston Villa	beIN Sports; 2,000	—	2,000
8/10/16	Copa MX	9:30 PM	Tapachula	Chivas	—	Univision Deportes; 160,000	160,000
8/11/16	EFL Cup	2:45 PM	Bristol Rovers	Cardiff City	beIN Sports; 2,000	beIN Español; 2,000	4,000
8/12/16	Ligue 1	2:00 PM	Bastia	Paris Saint Germain	beIN Sports; 11,000	beIN Español; 5,000	16,000
8/12/16	Primeira Liga	3:30 PM	Rio Ave	FC Porto	—	Univision Deportes; 24,000	24,000
8/13/16	Premier League	7:30 AM	Hull City	Leicester City	CNBC; 208,000	NBC Universo; 26,000	234,000
8/13/16	Championship	10:00 AM	Wigan	Blackburn	beIN Sports; 4,000	beIN Español; 11,000	15,000
8/13/16	Premier League	10:00 AM	Everton	Spurs	CNBC; 376,000	—	376,000
8/13/16	Championship	12:30 PM	Norwich City	Sheffield Wednesday	beIN Sports; 4,000	beIN Español; 9,000	13,000
8/13/16	Premier League	12:30 PM	Manchester City	Sunderland	CNBC; 350,000	—	350,000
8/13/16	Eredivisie	1:30 PM	Ajax	Roda JC	—	Univision Deportes; 22,000	22,000
8/13/16	Int’l Champions Cup	2:00 PM	Celtic	Inter Milan	ESPN2; 44,000	ESPN Deportes; Not available	44,000
8/13/16	Ligue 1	2:00 PM	Dijon	Nantes	beIN Sports; 2,000	beIN Español; 8,000	10,000
8/13/16	Liga MX	6:00 PM	Querétaro	Cruz Azul	—	Univision Deportes; 262,000	262,000
8/13/16	Liga MX	8:00 PM	Monterrey	Necaxa	Univision; 452,000	Univision Deportes; 243,000	695,000
8/13/16	Liga MX	8:06 PM	Pachuca	Pumas	—	NBC Universo; 75,000	75,000
8/13/16	Liga MX	10:00 PM	Club América	Monarcas Morelia	Univision; 543,000	Univision Deportes; 349,000	892,000
8/13/16	Olympics (M)	9:00 PM	Brazil	Colombia	NBCSN; 967,000	NBC Universo; Not available	967,000
8/14/16	Premier League	8:30 AM	AFC Bournemouth	Manchester United	NBCSN; 489,000	NBC Universo; 76,000	565,000
8/14/16	Ligue 1	9:00 AM	Nancy	Lyon	beIN Sports; 3,000	beIN Español; 3,000	6,000
8/14/16	Eredivisie	10:30 AM	PSV Eindhoven	AZ Alkmaar	—	Univision Deportes; 39,000	39,000
8/14/16	Ligue 1	11:00 AM	Nice	Stade Rennains	beIN Sports; 2,000	—	2,000
8/14/16	Premier League	11:00 AM	Arsenal	Liverpool	NBCSN; 745,000	—	745,000
8/14/16	Liga MX	1:00 PM	Toluca	Tigres	Univision; Not available	Univision Deportes; 158,000	158,000
8/14/16	DFL-SuperCup	2:30 PM	Bayern Munich	Borussia Dortmund	Fox Sports 1; 102,000	Fox Deportes; 80,000	182,000
8/14/16	Ligue 1	2:45 PM	Marseille	Toulouse	beIN Sports; 13,000	beIN Español; 9,000	22,000
8/14/16	Spanish Supercopa	3:45 PM	Sevilla	Barcelona	ESPN; 262,000	ESPN Deportes; Not available	262,000
8/14/16	Liga MX	7:00 PM	Santos Laguna	Chivas	—	Univision Deportes; 447,000	447,000
8/15/16	Premier League	3:00 PM	Chelsea	West Ham United	USA; 314,000	—	314,000