Major League Soccer viewership continued to decline last week as the match between Orlando City and New York Red Bulls on ESPN drew just 233,000 viewers, nearly 150,000 viewers fewer than the friendly match between the United States Women’s National Team and Russia. Orlando-New York Red Bulls was the least-viewed program on ESPN for that day.
Last Saturday’s Bundesliga matchup between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund averaged 261,000 viewers on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes to become the most-watched Bundesliga match on cable and the fourth most watched match overall this season. The top spot goes to the reverse fixture when 426,000 tuned in on the FOX broadcast network back on November 19, 2016.
Napoli’s 3-0 defeat of Lazio lat Sunday drew 58,000 viewers on beIN SPORTS en Español to become the fifth most-watched Serie A match of the season and the third most-watched in Spanish. Also on beIN SPORTS, both the Madrid Derby and Barcelona’s match against Malaga managed to break the 500,000 viewer mark on Saturday.
Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for April 3-9, 2017:
Average viewing audiences for soccer leagues on US TV:
| Rank | Date | Competition | Teams | TV1 | TV2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4/8/17 | Liga MX | Chivas / Puebla | Univision; 748000 | UDN; 469000 | 1,217,000 |
| 2 | 4/8/17 | Liga MX | Monterrey / Chiapas | Univision; 484000 | UDN; 267000 | 751,000 |
| 3 | 4/8/17 | Premier League | Bournemouth / Chelsea | NBCSN; 663000 | Unvso; 26000 | 689,000 |
| 4 | 4/9/17 | Liga MX | Pumas / Toluca | Univision; 505000 | UDN; 184000 | 689,000 |
| 5 | 4/5/17 | Copa MX | Monterrey / Chivas | —; — | UDN; 648000 | 648,000 |
| 6 | 4/8/17 | La Liga | Malaga / Barcelona | beIN; 114000 | beIE; 431000 | 545,000 |
| 7 | 4/8/17 | La Liga | Real Madrid / Atlético Madrid | beIN; 155000 | beIE; 347000 | 502,000 |
| 8 | 4/4/17 | CONCACAF CL | Pachuca / FC Dallas | —; — | UDN; 448000 | 448,000 |
| 9 | 4/9/17 | Premier League | Sunderland / Man Utd | NBCSN; 420000 | —; — | 420,000 |
| 10 | 4/9/17 | Premier League | Everton / Leicester City | NBCSN; 387000 | —; — | 387,000 |
| 11 | 4/5/17 | Premier League | Chelsea / Man City | NBCSN; 287000 | Unvso; 37000 | 324,000 |
| 12 | 4/8/17 | Premier League | Hull City / Man City | NBCSN; 281000 | Unvso; 26000 | 307,000 |
| 13 | 4/9/17 | Liga MX | Santos / Pachuca | —; — | UDN; 298000 | 298,000 |
| 14 | 4/8/17 | Liga MX | Cruz Azul / Morelia | —; — | UDN; 293000 | 293,000 |
| 15 | 4/8/17 | Premier League | Spurs / Watford | NBCSN; 251000 | Unvso; 14000 | 265,000 |
| 16 | 4/8/17 | Bundesliga | Bayern / Dortmund | FS1; 174000 | FOXD; 87000 | 261,000 |
| 17 | 4/6/17 | Int’l Friendly (W) | United States / Russia | FS1; 253000 | —; — | 253,000 |
| 18 | 4/5/17 | La Liga | Leganés / Real Madrid | beIN; 56000 | beIE; 182000 | 238,000 |
| 19 | 4/9/17 | MLS | Orlando City / New York Red Bulls | ESPN; 233000 | —; — | 233,000 |
| 20 | 4/4/17 | Premier League | Man Utd / Everton | NBCSN; 219000 | Unvso; 9000 | 228,000 |
| 21 | 4/5/17 | CONCACAF CL | Vancouver / Tigres | —; — | Gala; 185000 | 185,000 |
| 22 | 4/5/17 | La Liga | Barcelona / Sevilla | beIN; 39000 | beIE; 139000 | 178,000 |
| 23 | 4/9/17 | MLS | Sporting Kansas City / Colorado Rapids | FS1; 152000 | FOXD; 26000 | 178,000 |
| 24 | 4/8/17 | MLS | DC United / New York City | UniMás; 131000 | UDN; 42000 | 173,000 |
| 25 | 4/8/17 | Premier League | Liverpool / Stoke City | CNBC; 172000 | —; — | 172,000 |
| 26 | 4/8/17 | La Liga | Sevilla / Deportivo | —; — | beIE; 150000 | 150,000 |
| 27 | 4/8/17 | Liga MX | León / Veracruz | —; — | Gala; 119000 | 119,000 |
| 28 | 4/4/17 | La Liga | Atlético Madrid / Sociedad | beIN; 22000 | —; 55000 | 77,000 |
| 29 | 4/9/17 | Serie A | Lazio / Napoli | —; — | beIE; 58000 | 58,000 |
| 30 | 4/9/17 | La Liga | Osasuna / Leganes | —; — | beIE; 48000 | 48,000 |
| 31 | 4/9/17 | Bundesliga | Berlin / Augsburg | FS1; 43000 | ; — | 43,000 |
| 32 | 4/6/17 | La Liga | Valencia / Celta | beIN; 9000 | beIE; 32000 | 41,000 |
| 33 | 4/4/17 | Bundesliga | Hoffenheim / Bayern | FS1; 39000 | —; — | 39,000 |
| 34 | 4/7/17 | Bundesliga | Frankfurt / Bremen | FS2; 20000 | FOXD; 16000 | 36,000 |
| 35 | 4/5/17 | Bundesliga | Darmstadt / Leverkusen | FS1; 22000 | FOXD; 12000 | 34,000 |
| 36 | 4/7/17 | La Liga | Villarreal / Athletic | —; — | beIE; 33000 | 33,000 |
| 37 | 4/9/17 | Bundesliga | Ingolstadt / Darmstadt | FS2; 18000 | FOXD; 13000 | 31,000 |
| 38 | 4/9/17 | La Liga | Celta / Eibar | —; — | beIE; 31000 | 31,000 |
| 39 | 4/4/17 | La Liga | Athletic / Espanyol | beIN; 2000 | beIE; 22000 | 24,000 |
| 40 | 4/8/17 | Bundesliga | Leipzig / Leverkusen | FS2; 22000 | —; — | 22,000 |
| 41 | 4/6/17 | La Liga | Eibar / Las Palmas | beIN; 5000 | beIE; 16000 | 21,000 |
| 42 | 4/3/17 | La Liga | Celta / Las Palmas | —; — | beIE; 20000 | 20,000 |
| 43 | 4/3/17 | Serie A | Inter Milan / Sampdoria | beIN; 19000 | —; — | 19,000 |
| 44 | 4/8/17 | Bundesliga | Schalke / Wolfsburg | —; — | FOXD; 18000 | 18,000 |
| 45 | 4/4/17 | Bundesliga | Dortmund / Hamburg | FS2; 17000 | —; — | 17,000 |
| 46 | 4/5/17 | Bundesliga | Mönchengladbach / Hertha Berlin | FS2; 13000 | —; — | 13,000 |
| 47 | 4/9/17 | Serie A | Bologna / Roma | beIN; 11000 | —; — | 11,000 |
| 48 | 4/4/17 | Bundesliga | Köln / Frankfurt | —; — | FOXD; 7000 | 7,000 |
| 49 | 4/7/17 | EFL Championship | QPR / Brighton | beIN; 2000 | —; — | 2,000 |
Comparison of viewing numbers for soccer leagues on US TV:
| League | Average |
|---|---|
| Liga MX | 778,516 |
| Premier League | 461,239 |
| UEFA CL | 430,955 |
| MLS | 250,500 |
| La Liga | 153,815 |
| NWSL | 88,500 |
| Bundesliga | 73,475 |
| Primeira Liga | 36,000 |
| Serie A | 25,763 |
| Ligue 1 | 16,636 |
| Championship | 14,535 |
| NASL | 2,500 |
MLS 2017 viewing average compared to previous years
| League | Overall | ESPN | FOX ( /NBC ) | Univision |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 MLS | 250,500 | 297,000 | 255,857 | 238,833 |
| 2016 MLS | 266,467 | 279,094 | 264,656 | 247,148 |
| 2015 MLS | — | 240,000 | 142,000 | — |
| 2014 MLS | — | 220,000 | 112,000 | — |
| 2013 MLS | — | 311,000 | 125,000 | — |
| 2012 MLS | — | 292,000 | — | — |
| 2011 MLS | — | 253,000 | — | — |
| 201o MLS | — | 299,000 | — | — |
| 2009 MLS | — | 251,000 | — | — |
| 2008 MLS | — | 289,000 | — | — |
| 2007 MLS | — | 263,000 | — | — |
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