For the second time this season, a Major League Soccer broadcast has averaged more than one million viewers. This past weekend, the over-the-air FOX broadcast network aired two matches on the big FOX network with only one viewable in each market depending on FOX’s NFL coverage for the day. Most of the country saw Toronto FC and New York Red Bulls at 5pm ET, while the remainder saw Sporting Kansas City take on the Los Angeles Galaxy at 2pm ET. Both games together averaged 1.298 million viewers, the highest for an MLS game since 1.004 million watched the California Clásico on June 25 earlier this year.
On September 13, ESPN2 aired the US Open Cup final, their only soccer broadcast of the week. Univision Deportes aired the match in Spanish with both networks combining for only 242,000 viewers, down 36% from 381,000 combined last year.
Elsewhere on FOX Sports, it was another disappointing weekend for the Bundesliga. Only two matches featured on FOX Sports 1. The highest viewership was attained on Saturday morning as 50,000 watched Bayern Munich play Ingolstadt while 89,000 watched Bayer Leverkusen battle Frankfurt on FOX Deportes.
Liga MX viewership also impressed this weekend with both of Univision’s late Saturday windows drawing more than 1 million viewers, peaking at 10pm ET as Club América took on León in front of 1.28 million viewers. See last week’s soccer TV ratings roundup article for more insight regarding Liga MX’s continued good form with TV ratings.
Here are the TV viewing audiences:
Domestic numbers for the week:
Date | Competition | Start Time | Home | Away | Network 1 | Network 2 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
9/13/16 | US Open Cup | 10:00 PM | FC Dallas | New England Revolution | ESPN2; 172,000 | Univision Deportes; 70,000 | 242,000 |
9/15/16 | Friendly (W) | 8:00 PM | United States | Thailand | ESPN2; 266,000 | — | 266,000 |
9/16/16 | MLS | 8:00 PM | Chicago Fire | DC United | UniMás; 138,000 | Univision Deportes; 63,000 | 201,000 |
9/17/16 | NASL | 7:30 PM | Puerto Rico FC | Jacksonville Armada | — | beIN Español; 7,000 | 7,000 |
9/18/16 | MLS | 2/5 PM | Toronto FC/LA Galaxy | NY Red Bulls/Sporting KC | FOX; 1,298,000 | Fox Deportes; 31,000 | 1,329,000 |
9/18/16 | Friendly (W) | 7:00 PM | United States | The Netherlands | Fox Sports 1; 243,000 | — | 243,000 |
Foreign numbers for the week:
Date | Competition | Start Time | Team 1 | Team 2 | Network 1 | Network 2 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
9/13/16 | UEFA Champions League | 2:45 PM | Paris Saint Germain | Arsenal | Fox Sports 2; 83,000 | — | 83,000 |
9/13/16 | UEFA Champions League | 2:45 PM | Barcelona | Celtic | Fox Sports 1; 153,000 | Fox Deportes; 154,000 | 307,000 |
9/13/16 | UEFA Champions League | 2:45 PM | Bayern Munich | FC Rostov | ESPN2; 99,000 | — | 99,000 |
9/13/16 | CONCACAF CL | 8:00 PM | Pachuca | Police United | — | Univision Deportes; 89,000 | 89,000 |
9/14/16 | UEFA Champions League | 2:45 PM | Juventus | Sevilla | ESPN2; 126,000 | — | 126,000 |
9/14/16 | UEFA Champions League | 2:45 PM | Bayer Leverkusen | CSKA Moscow | — | Fox Deportes; 57,000 | 57,000 |
9/14/16 | UEFA Champions League | 2:45 PM | Real Madrid | Sporting Clube | Fox Sports 2; 77,000 | — | 77,000 |
9/14/16 | CONCACAF CL | 10:00 PM | Portland Timbers | Saprissa | — | Univision Deportes; 89,000 | 89,000 |
9/15/16 | UEFA Europa League | 12:30 PM | Feyenoord | Manchester United | Fox Sports 1; 98,000 | — | 98,000 |
9/15/16 | UEFA Europa League | 12:30 PM | Mainz | Saint-Étienne | Fox Sports 2; 7,000 | — | 7,000 |
9/15/16 | UEFA Europa League | 3:00 PM | Nice | Schalke 04 | Fox Sports 2; 55,000 | — | 55,000 |
9/15/16 | CONCACAF CL | 8:00 PM | Alianza | New York Red Bulls | — | Univision Deportes; 70,000 | 70,000 |
9/15/16 | CONCACAF CL | 10:00 PM | Pumas | Honduras Progreso | — | Univision Deportes; 138,000 | 138,000 |
9/16/16 | Bundesliga | 2:30 PM | Köln | Freiburg | Fox Sports 1; 37,000 | Fox Deportes; 2,000 | 39,000 |
9/16/16 | Ligue 1 | 2:45 PM | Caen | Paris Saint Germain | beIN SPORTS; 14,000 | — | 14,000 |
9/16/16 | La Liga | 2:45 PM | Real Betis | Grenada | — | beIN Español; 21,000 | 21,000 |
9/16/16 | Premier League | 3:00 PM | Chelsea | Liverpool | NBCSN; 292,000 | NBC Universo; 9,000 | 301,000 |
9/17/16 | La Liga | 7:00 AM | Leganes | Barcelona | beIN SPORTS; 52,000 | beIN Español; 92,000 | 144,000 |
9/17/16 | Bundesliga | 9:30 AM | Bayern Munich | Ingolstadt | Fox Sports 1; 50,000 | — | 50,000 |
9/17/16 | Bundesliga | 9:30 AM | Borussia Dortmund | Darmstadt | Fox Sports 2; 14,000 | — | 14,000 |
9/17/16 | Bundesliga | 9:30 AM | Frankfurt | Bayer Leverkusen | — | Fox Deportes; 89,000 | 89,000 |
9/17/16 | Championship | 10:00 AM | Ipswich Town | Aston Villa | beIN SPORTS; 19,000 | — | 19,000 |
9/17/16 | Premier League | 10:00 AM | Manchester City | Bournemouth | NBCSN; 398,000 | NBC Universo; 39,000 | 437,000 |
9/17/16 | La Liga | 10:15 AM | Atletico Madrid | Sporting | — | beIN Español; 88,000 | 88,000 |
9/17/16 | Serie A | 12:00 PM | Lazio | Pescara | beIN SPORTS; 20,000 | — | 20,000 |
9/17/16 | Premier League | 12:30 PM | Everton | Middlesbrough | NBC; 553,000 | NBC Universo; 41,000 | 594,000 |
9/17/16 | La Liga | 12:30 PM | Eibar | Sevilla | — | beIN Español; 63,000 | 63,000 |
9/17/16 | La Liga | 2:45 PM | Las Palmas | Malaga | — | beIN Español; 72,000 | 72,000 |
9/17/16 | Serie A | 2:45 PM | Napoli | Bologna | beIN SPORTS; 33,000 | — | 33,000 |
9/17/16 | Liga MX | 5:00 PM | Toluca | Chivas | UniMás; 408,000 | Univision Deportes; 259,000 | 667,000 |
9/17/16 | Liga MX | 6:00 PM | Querétaro | Monterrey | — | Galavision; 132,000 | 132,000 |
9/17/16 | Liga MX | 8:00 PM | Tigres | Puebla | Univision; 647,000 | Univision Deportes; 284,000 | 931,000 |
9/17/16 | Liga MX | 8:06 PM | Chiapas | Cruz Azul | — | Galavision; 219,000 | 219,000 |
9/17/16 | Liga MX | 10:00 PM | Club América | León | Univision; 828,000 | Univision Deportes; 452,000 | 1,280,000 |
9/18/16 | Premier League | 7:00 AM | Watford | Manchester United | CNBC; 216,000 | NBC Universo; 26,000 | 242,000 |
9/18/16 | Serie A | 9:00 AM | Sassuolo | Genoa | beIN SPORTS; 8,000 | — | 8,000 |
9/18/16 | Premier League | 9:15 AM | Crystal Palace | Stoke City | CNBC; 234,000 | — | 234,000 |
9/18/16 | Bundesliga | 9:30 AM | Augsburg | Mainz | Fox Sports 2; 13,000 | Fox Deportes; 9,000 | 22,000 |
9/18/16 | La Liga | 10:15 AM | Athletic Bilbao | Valencia | — | beIN Español; 72,000 | 72,000 |
9/18/16 | Bundesliga | 11:30 AM | Hertha Berlin | Schalke 04 | Fox Sports 2; 2,000 | Fox Deportes; 12,000 | 14,000 |
9/18/16 | Premier League | 11:30 AM | Spurs | Sunderland | NBCSN; 430,000 | Telemundo; Not Available | 430,000 |
9/18/16 | Serie A | 12:00 PM | inter Milan | Juventus | beIN SPORTS; 54,000 | — | 54,000 |
9/18/16 | La Liga | 12:30 PM | Villareal | Real Sociedad | — | beIN Español; 132,000 | 132,000 |
9/18/16 | Primeira Liga | 1:00 PM | Tondela | FC Porto | — | Univision Deportes; 115,000 | 115,000 |
9/18/16 | La Liga | 2:45 PM | Espanyol | Real Madrid | beIN SPORTS; 97,000 | beIN Español; 327,000 | 424,000 |
9/18/16 | Liga MX | 7:00 PM | Santos Laguna | Pumas | — | Univision Deportes; 324,000 | 324,000 |
9/19/16 | La Liga | 2:45 PM | Alaves | Deportivo | beIN SPORTS; 13,000 | beIN Español; 19,000 | 32,000 |
Major League Soccer averages:
Overall | ESPN | ESPN2 | ESPND | FOX | FS1 | FOXD | Univision | UniMás | UDN |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
294,257 | 312,391 | 201,500 | 46,000 | 658,000 | 165,273 | 35,444 | 827,000 | 166,130 | 68,636 |
Other league averages:
League | Average |
---|---|
Liga MX | 660,553 |
Premier League | 434,000 |
UEFA CL | 374,500 |
La Liga | 131,867 |
Bundesliga | 70,786 |
NWSL | 68,000 |
Primeira Liga | 62,250 |
Serie A | 30,667 |
Eredivisie | 27,000 |
Championship | 16,667 |
Ligue 1 | 12,000 |
NASL | 7,423 |
HT: SportsTVRatings.
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