MLS Soccer Sunday made its return to ESPN and FS1 last week with both seeing big improvements over the first Soccer Sunday of 2016. Viewership on ESPN was up nearly 14% for Orlando-NYCFC when compared to last season’s Portland-Columbus rematch. FS1’s decision to air Atlanta’s opening match against the New York Red Bulls in primetime proved fruitful as the network saw viewership rise 40% from 267,000 in 2016 to 375,000 in 2017.
Over on NBCSN, Saturday’s Arsenal-Liverpool clash provided the network with its largest viewership numbers since January 15 as 614,000 tuned in. The match also provided a season high for Spanish-language network NBC Universo, as 101,000 people tuned in. The next highest viewership for a match on NBC Universo this season was 78,000 for Swansea-Manchester City, exclusive to the network in September of 2016.
England’s historic 1-0 victory over the United States Women’s National Team provided the largest English-language soccer viewership for the week as 728,000 watched the USWNT suffered their first home defeat in 23 games.
Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for February 28-March 6, 2017:
| Rank | Teams | Competition | Date | TV1 | TV2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | León / América | Liga MX | 3/4/17 | Univision; 906000 | UDN; 650000 | 1,556,000 |
| 2 | Chivas / Toluca | Liga MX | 3/4/17 | Univision; 822000 | UDN; 626000 | 1,448,000 |
| 3 | USA / England | SheBelieves Cup | 3/4/17 | FOX; 728000 | —; — | 728,000 |
| 4 | Liverpool / Arsenal | Premier League | 3/4/17 | NBCSN; 614000 | Unvso; 101000 | 715,000 |
| 5 | Pumas / Santos | Liga MX | 3/5/17 | Univision; 541000 | UDN; 162000 | 703,000 |
| 6 | Los Angeles / Dallas | MLS | 3/4/17 | Univision; 395000 | UDN; 114000 | 509,000 |
| 7 | Barcelona / Celta Vigo | La Liga | 3/4/17 | beIN; 132000 | beIE; 351000 | 483,000 |
| 8 | Leicester City / Hull City | Premier League | 3/4/17 | NBCSN; 438000 | Unvso; 29000 | 467,000 |
| 9 | Cruz Azul / Chiapas | Liga MX | 3/4/17 | —; — | UDN; 442000 | 442,000 |
| 10 | Atlanta / NYRB | MLS | 3/5/17 | FS1; 375000 | FOXD; 66000 | 441,000 |
| 11 | Sunderland / Man City | Premier League | 3/5/17 | NBCSN; 412000 | —; — | 412,000 |
| 12 | Orlando / NYCFC | MLS | 3/5/17 | ESPN; 411000 | ESPND; — | 411,000 |
| 13 | Spurs / Everton | Premier League | 3/5/17 | NBCSN; 363000 | Unvso; 29000 | 392,000 |
| 14 | Man Utd / Bournemouth | Premier League | 3/4/17 | NBCSN; 329000 | Unvso; 62000 | 391,000 |
| 15 | América / Santos | Copa MX | 3/1/17 | —; — | UDN; 373000 | 373,000 |
| 16 | Real Madrid / Las Palmas | La Liga | 3/1/17 | beIN; 83000 | beIE; 249000 | 332,000 |
| 17 | USA / Germany | SheBelieves Cup | 3/1/17 | FS1; 310000 | —; — | 310,000 |
| 18 | Eibar / Real Madrid | La Liga | 3/4/17 | beIN; 77000 | beIE; 195000 | 272,000 |
| 19 | West Ham / Chelsea | Premier League | 3/6/17 | NBCSN; 216000 | Unvso; 38000 | 254,000 |
| 20 | Portland / Minnesota | MLS | 3/3/17 | FS1; 212000 | FOXD; 35000 | 247,000 |
| 21 | Barcelona / Gijón | La Liga | 3/1/17 | beIN; 72000 | beIE; 166000 | 238,000 |
| 22 | Pachuca / Saprissa | CONCACAF CL | 2/28/17 | —; — | UDN; 195000 | 195,000 |
| 23 | Pumas / Tigres | CONCACAF CL | 3/1/17 | —; — | Gala; 188000 | 188,000 |
| 24 | Puebla / Tigres | Liga MX | 3/5/17 | —; — | UDN; 177000 | 177,000 |
| 25 | Villarreal / Espanyol | La Liga | 3/4/17 | —; — | beIE; 167000 | 167,000 |
| 26 | USA / Honduras | CNCAF U20 Champ. | 3/5/17 | —; — | UDN; 161000 | 161,000 |
| 27 | Man City / Huddersfield | FA Cup | 3/1/17 | FS1; 113000 | FOXD; 14000 | 127,000 |
| 28 | Atlético Madrid / Valencia | La Liga | 3/5/17 | —; — | beIE; 127000 | 127,000 |
| 29 | Panama / Costa Rica | CNCAF U20 Champ. | 3/3/17 | —; — | UDN; 120000 | 120,000 |
| 30 | Dortmund / Leverkusen | Bundesliga | 3/4/17 | FS2; 51000 | FOXD; 66000 | 117,000 |
| 31 | Mexico / El Salvador | CNCAF U20 Champ. | 3/1/17 | —; — | UDN; 98000 | 98,000 |
| 32 | Deportivo / Atlético Madid | La Liga | 3/2/17 | beIN; 26000 | —; 63000 | 89,000 |
| 33 | Monterrey / Juárez | Copa MX | 2/28/17 | —; — | Gala; 86000 | 86,000 |
| 34 | Vancouver / NYRB | CONCACAF CL | 3/2/17 | —; — | UDN; 76000 | 76,000 |
| 35 | Las Palmas / Osasuna | La Liga | 3/5/17 | —; — | beIE; 74000 | 74,000 |
| 36 | Monterrey / Querétaro | Liga MX | 3/4/17 | —; — | Gala; 70000 | 70,000 |
| 37 | Betis / Sociedad | La Liga | 3/3/17 | —; — | beIE; 66000 | 66,000 |
| 38 | USA / El Salvador | CNCAF U20 Champ. | 3/3/17 | —; — | UDN; 63000 | 63,000 |
| 39 | Querétaro / Oaxaca | Copa MX | 2/28/17 | —; — | UDN; 62000 | 62,000 |
| 40 | Frankfurt / Freiburg | Bundesliga | 3/5/17 | FS1; 57000 | —; — | 57,000 |
| 41 | Athletic / Málaga | La Liga | 3/5/17 | —; — | beIE; 57000 | 57,000 |
| 42 | Alavés / Sevilla | La Liga | 3/6/17 | beIN; 10000 | beIE; 41000 | 51,000 |
| 43 | Sociedad / Eibar | La Liga | 2/28/17 | —; — | beIE; 35000 | 35,000 |
| 44 | Moncao / Nantes | Ligue 1 | 3/5/17 | beIN; 30000 | —; — | 30,000 |
| 45 | Udinese / Juventus | Serie A | 3/5/17 | beIN; 30000 | —; — | 30,000 |
| 46 | West Brom / Crystal Palace | Premier League | 3/4/17 | CNBC; 25000 | —; — | 25,000 |
| 47 | Málaga / Betis | La Liga | 2/28/17 | —; — | beIE; 24000 | 24,000 |
| 48 | Mönchengladbach / Schalke | Bundesliga | 3/4/17 | —; — | FOXD; 22000 | 22,000 |
| 49 | Brighton / Newcastle | EFL Championship | 2/28/17 | beIN; 21000 | —; — | 21,000 |
| 50 | Hamburg / Hertha | Bundesliga | 3/5/17 | —; — | FOXD; 21000 | 21,000 |
| 51 | Augsburg / Leipzig | Bundesliga | 3/3/17 | FS2; 17000 | GolTV; — | 17,000 |
| 52 | Birmingham / Leeds | EFL Championship | 3/3/17 | beIN; 5000 | —; — | 5,000 |
Average viewing audiences for soccer leagues on US TV:
| League | Average |
|---|---|
| Liga MX | 807,702 |
| Premier League | 466,718 |
| UEFA CL | 416,056 |
| MLS | 402,000 |
| La Liga | 150,192 |
| NWSL | 88,500 |
| Bundesliga | 74,873 |
| Primeira Liga | 36,935 |
| Serie A | 25,896 |
| Ligue 1 | 16,636 |
| Championship | 15,868 |
| NASL | 7,000 |
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