It was another US TV weekend dominated by Mexican soccer as Univision’s Liguilla coverage placed six matches in the top 8 most-viewed of the week. The Súper Clásico series between Club América and Club Deportivo Guadalajara helped boost Univision to its most-watched Quarterfinal round of the Liga MX playoffs ever. Sunday’s matchup delivered the largest ever audience for a Liga MX Quarterfinal game, on any network.
Over on the NBC broadcast network, 959,000 people watched Spurs lose their first game of the season, making it the second most-viewed match of the Premier League season thus far behind NBC’s season opener between Hull City and Manchester United on August 27. When factoring in the viewers on NBC Universo, the match averaged 1.004 million viewers, making it the second Premier League match of the season to average an audience larger than one million.
It was not all good news for NBC, however, as Sunday mornings clash between Watford and Stoke delivered only 58,000 viewers on CNBC, a low point for the League on television this season and only the second game to average less than 120,000 viewers.
The MLS Cup Playoffs Western Conference Final between Colorado Rapids and Seattle Sounders saw a slight (9,000 viewers) increase over last year’s match between FC Dallas and the Portland Timbers. Thus far, MLS playoff viewership is down by approximately 10,000 viewers when compared to last season.
Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for November 22-29, 2016:
| Rank | Home | Away | Competition | Date | TV1 | TV2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chivas | América | Liga MX Liguilla | 11/27/16 | Univision; 2006000 | UDN; 994000 | 3,000,000 |
| 2 | América | Chivas | Liga MX Liguilla | 11/24/16 | Univision; 1716000 | UDN; 1141000 | 2,857,000 |
| 3 | Chelsea | Spurs | Premier League | 11/26/16 | NBC; 959000 | Unvso; 45000 | 1,004,000 |
| 4 | Tigres | Pumas | Liga MX Liguilla | 11/26/16 | —; — | UDN; 875000 | 875,000 |
| 5 | Pumas | Tigres | Liga MX Liguilla | 11/23/16 | —; — | UDN; 852000 | 852,000 |
| 6 | Necaxa | Pachuca | Liga MX Liguilla | 11/24/16 | —; — | UDN; 805000 | 805,000 |
| 7 | Real Sociedad | Barcelona | La Liga | 11/27/16 | beIN; 186000 | beIE; 469000 | 655,000 |
| 8 | León | Tijuana | Liga MX Liguilla | 11/23/16 | —; — | UDN; 600000 | 600,000 |
| 9 | Man Utd | West Ham | Premier League | 11/27/16 | NBCSN; 548000 | —; — | 548,000 |
| 10 | Sunderland | Liverpool | Premier League | 11/26/16 | NBCSN; 536000 | —; — | 536,000 |
| 11 | Real Madrid | Sporting | La Liga | 11/26/16 | beIN; 99000 | beIE; 255000 | 354,000 |
| 12 | Colorado Rapids | Seattle Sounders | MLS Conf Final | 11/27/16 | ESPN; 295000 | —; — | 295,000 |
| 13 | Arsenal | Paris Saint Germain | UEFA CL | 11/23/16 | FS1; 291000 | —; — | 291,000 |
| 14 | Arsenal | Bournemouth | Premier League | 11/27/16 | CNBC; 287000 | —; — | 287,000 |
| 15 | Burnley | Man City | Premier League | 11/26/16 | NBCSN; 231000 | Unvso; 47000 | 278,000 |
| 16 | Man Utd | Feyenoord | UEFA EL | 11/24/16 | FS1; 253000 | —; — | 253,000 |
| 17 | Sporting CP | Real Madrid | UEFA CL | 11/22/16 | FS2; 79000 | FOXD; 169000 | 248,000 |
| 18 | Bayern Munich | Bayer Leverkusen | Bundesliga | 11/26/16 | FS2; 31000 | FOXD; 179000 | 210,000 |
| 19 | Sevilla | Valencia | La Liga | 11/26/16 | —; — | beIE; 148000 | 148,000 |
| 20 | Osasuna | Atletico Madrid | La Liga | 11/27/16 | beIN; 22000 | beIE; 119000 | 141,000 |
| 21 | Monaco | Spurs | UEFA CL | 11/22/16 | FS1; 138000 | —; — | 138,000 |
| 22 | Rostov | Bayern Munich | UEFA CL | 11/23/16 | FS1; 118000 | —; — | 118,000 |
| 23 | Celta Vigo | Granada | La Liga | 11/27/16 | —; — | beIE; 109000 | 109,000 |
| 24 | Crystal Palace | Swansea City | Premier League | 11/26/16 | CNBC; 105000 | —; — | 105,000 |
| 25 | Southampton | Everton | Premier League | 11/27/16 | CNBC; 100000 | —; — | 100,000 |
| 26 | Sparta Praha | Southampton | UEFA EL | 11/24/16 | FS1; 98000 | —; — | 98,000 |
| 27 | Espanyol | Leganes | La Liga | 11/26/16 | ; — | beIE; 83000 | 83,000 |
| 28 | Fenerbahçe | Zorya | UEFA EL | 11/24/16 | FS1; 82000 | —; — | 82,000 |
| 29 | CSKA Moscow | Bayer Leverkusen | UEFA CL | 11/22/16 | FS1; 79000 | —; — | 79,000 |
| 30 | Schalke 04 | Darmstadt | Bundesliga | 11/27/16 | FS1; 53000 | FOXD; 21000 | 74,000 |
| 31 | Besiktas | Benfica | UEFA CL | 11/23/16 | —; — | FOXD; 72000 | 72,000 |
| 32 | United States | Mexico | U20 World Cup (W) | 11/25/16 | FS1; 67000 | —; — | 67,000 |
| 33 | Watford | Stoke | Premier League | 11/27/16 | CNBC; 58000 | —; — | 58,000 |
| 34 | Hertha Berlin | Mainz | Bundesliga | 11/27/16 | FS1; 38000 | FOXD; 19000 | 57,000 |
| 35 | Celtic | Barcelona | UEFA CL | 11/23/16 | FS2; 53000 | —; — | 53,000 |
| 36 | Mönchengladbach | Man City | UEFA CL | 11/23/16 | —; — | FOXD; 53000 | 53,000 |
| 37 | North Korea | Spain | U20 World Cup (W) | 11/24/16 | FS1; 53000 | —; — | 53,000 |
| 38 | Hapoel | Inter Milan | UEFA EL | 11/24/16 | FS2; 41000 | —; — | 41,000 |
| 39 | Freiburg | RB Leipzig | Bundesliga | 11/25/16 | FS2; 37000 | —; — | 37,000 |
| 40 | Mönchengladbach | Hoffenheim | Bundesliga | 11/26/16 | ; — | FOXD; 32000 | 32,000 |
| 41 | Eintracht Frankfurt | Borussia Dortmund | Bundesliga | 11/26/16 | FS2; 23000 | —; — | 23,000 |
| 42 | Eibar | Real Betis | La Liga | 11/25/16 | —; — | beIE; 21000 | 21,000 |
| 43 | Genoa | Juventus | Serie A | 11/27/16 | beIN; 21000 | —; — | 21,000 |
| 44 | Zenit | Maccabi Tel Aviv | UEFA EL | 11/24/16 | FS2; 20000 | —; — | 20,000 |
| 45 | Empoli | AC Milan | Serie A | 11/26/16 | beIN; 19000 | —; — | 19,000 |
| 46 | Saint-Étienne | Mainz | UEFA EL | 11/24/16 | FS2; 18000 | —; — | 18,000 |
| 47 | Boavista | Sporting CP | Primeira Liga | 11/26/16 | —; — | UDN; 18000 | 18,000 |
| 48 | Japan | Brazil | U20 World Cup (W) | 11/24/16 | FS1; 17000 | —; — | 17,000 |
| 49 | Las Palmas | Athletic Bilbao | La Liga | 11/28/16 | —; — | beIE; 16000 | 16,000 |
| 50 | Inter Milan | Fiorentina | Serie A | 11/28/16 | beIN; 14000 | —; — | 14,000 |
| 51 | Barnsley | Nottingham Forest | Championship | 11/25/16 | beIN; 8000 | —; — | 8,000 |
2016 MLS TV averages:
| League | Overall | ESPN | ESPN2 | ESPND | FOX | FS1 | FOXD | UniMás/UDN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLS | 276,689 | 290,179 | 201,500 | 46,000 | 658,000 | 154,346 | 34,677 | 218,038 |
| MLS Playoffs | 273,000 | 279,167 | 124,000 | 44,500 | — | 186,000 | 64,667 | 211,750 |
Most-watched leagues on US TV
| League | Average |
|---|---|
| Liga MX | 735,185 |
| Premier League | 439,753 |
| UEFA CL | 353,833 |
| MLS | 281,321 |
| La Liga | 143,727 |
| NWSL | 88,500 |
| Bundesliga | 77,109 |
| Primeira Liga | 36,308 |
| Serie A | 28,241 |
| Eredivisie | 28,200 |
| Championship | 16,727 |
| Ligue 1 | 12,625 |
| NASL | 7,500 |
200+ Channels With Sports & News
- Starting price: $33/mo. for fubo Latino Package
- Watch Premier League, Women’s World Cup, Euro 2024 & Gold Cup
The New Home of MLS
- Price: $14.99/mo. for MLS Season Pass
- Watch every MLS game including playoffs & Leagues Cup
Many Sports & ESPN Originals
- Price: $10.99/mo. (or get ESPN+, Hulu & Disney+ for $14.99/mo.)
- Features Bundesliga, LaLiga, Championship, & FA Cup
2,000+ soccer games per year
- Price: $5.99/mo
- Features Champions League, Serie A, Europa League & Brasileirāo
175 Premier League Games & PL TV
- Starting price: $5.99/mo. for Peacock Premium
- Watch 175 exclusive EPL games per season