Viewership for NBC Universo’s coverage of Liga MX hit its peak for 2017 this past weekend as 284,000 watched Pachuca and Chivas play to a 0-0 draw on Saturday. Prior to this match, Chivas were averaging 1.24 million viewers per match exclusively on Univision’s networks with 7 of their 10 matches drawing more than 1 million viewers. Club América are leading club soccer viewership in this country by averaging 1.294 million viewers through 12 matches.
The Premier League returned to the NBC network this weekend after a week off. An average of 784,000 watched Manchester City’s 3-0 defeat of Southampton bringing the average viewership for Premier League matches on NBC to 875,571 for the season. At the same time on the FOX network, Bayer Leverkusen took on Bayern Munich to an audience of 282,000 for FOX’s fourth Bundesliga game of the season, bringing their average viewership down to 311,000 on the FOX network.
Immediately after the conclusion of FOX’s Bundesliga coverage, Major League Soccer made its 2017 debut on the network as a disappointing 346,000 viewers tuned in to watch Orlando City take on the Los Angeles Galaxy. Games on FOX in 2016 averaged 658,000 viewers, with the lowest being 349,000 on July 31, 2016.
Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for April 10-16, 2017:
Average viewing audiences for soccer leagues on US TV:
Rank | Date | Competition | Teams | TV1 | TV2 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4/15/17 | Liga MX | América / Querétaro | Univision; 669000 | UDN; 401000 | 1,070,000 |
2 | 4/11/17 | Liga MX | Tigres / Chivas | UniMás; 465000 | UDN; 503000 | 968,000 |
3 | 4/12/17 | Liga MX | América / Necaxa | UniMás; 412000 | UDN; 477000 | 889,000 |
4 | 4/15/17 | Premier League | Southampton / Man City | NBC; 784000 | Unvso; 42000 | 826,000 |
5 | 4/16/17 | Premier League | Man Utd / Chelsea | NBCSN; 816000 | —; — | 816,000 |
6 | 4/15/17 | Liga MX | Tigres / Pumas | Univision; 482000 | UDN; 279000 | 761,000 |
7 | 4/11/17 | UEFA CL Quarter Finals | Juventus / Barcelona | FS1; 391000 | FOXD; 357000 | 748,000 |
8 | 4/16/17 | Liga MX | Toluca / Monterrey | Univision; 522000 | UDN; 179000 | 701,000 |
9 | 4/15/17 | La Liga | Barcelona / Sociedad | beIN; 139000 | beIE; 403000 | 542,000 |
10 | 4/16/17 | Premier League | West Brom / Liverpool | NBCSN; 415000 | Unvso; 32000 | 447,000 |
11 | 4/13/17 | Liga MX | Toluca / Cruz Azul | —; — | UDN; 401000 | 401,000 |
12 | 4/15/17 | La Liga | Sporting / Real Madrid | beIN; 134000 | beIE; 256000 | 390,000 |
13 | 4/12/17 | UEFA CL Quarter Finals | Bayern / Real Madrid | FS1; 383000 | —; — | 383,000 |
14 | 4/15/17 | MLS | Orlando City / Los Angeles Galaxy | FOX; 346000 | FOXD; 31000 | 377,000 |
15 | 4/15/17 | Premier League | Crystal Palace / Leicester City | NBCSN; 361000 | —; — | 361,000 |
16 | 4/15/17 | Bundesliga | Leverkusen / Bayern | FOX; 282000 | FOXD; 58000 | 340,000 |
17 | 4/16/17 | Liga MX | Puebla / Cruz Azul | —; — | UDN; 327000 | 327,000 |
18 | 4/14/17 | MLS | San Jose Earthquakes / FC Dallas | UniMás; 256000 | UDN; 42000 | 298,000 |
19 | 4/15/17 | Liga MX | Pachuca / Chivas | —; — | Unvso; 284000 | 284,000 |
20 | 4/15/17 | Premier League | Spurs / Bournemouth | NBCSN; 260000 | —; — | 260,000 |
21 | 4/12/17 | Liga MX | Querétaro / Tijuana | —; — | UDN; 241000 | 241,000 |
22 | 4/13/17 | UEFA EL Quarter Finals | Anderlecht / Man Utd | FS1; 211000 | —; — | 211,000 |
23 | 4/15/17 | La Liga | Atlético Madrid / Osasuna | beIN; 57000 | beIE; 146000 | 203,000 |
24 | 4/14/17 | MLS | Philadelphia Union / New York City | ESPN; 198000 | ESPND; — | 198,000 |
25 | 4/15/17 | Liga MX | Chiapas / Tijuana | —; — | UDN; 188000 | 188,000 |
26 | 4/11/17 | Liga MX | Chiapas / León | —; — | UDN; 180000 | 180,000 |
27 | 4/10/17 | Premier League | Crystal Palace / Arsenal | NBCSN; 174000 | —; — | 174,000 |
28 | 4/12/17 | UEFA CL Quarter Finals | Dortmund / Monaco | FS2; 96000 | —; — | 96,000 |
29 | 4/12/17 | UEFA CL Quarter Finals | Atlético Madrid / Leicester City | FS2; 41000 | FOXD; 51000 | 92,000 |
30 | 4/15/17 | Bundesliga | Dortmund / Frankfurt | FS1; 88000 | —; — | 88,000 |
31 | 4/15/17 | NWSL | Thorns / Pride | Lifetime; 82000 | —; — | 82,000 |
32 | 4/16/17 | La Liga | Valencia / Sevilla | beIN; 8000 | beIE; 74000 | 82,000 |
33 | 4/16/17 | Bundesliga | Bremen / Hamburg | FS1; 65000 | —; — | 65,000 |
34 | 4/16/17 | Bundesliga | Darmstadt / Schalke | FS1; 51000 | FOXD; 10000 | 61,000 |
35 | 4/12/17 | Liga MX | Pachuca / Morelia | —; — | Unvso; 53000 | 53,000 |
36 | 4/16/17 | La Liga | Betis / Eibar | —; — | beIE; 50000 | 50,000 |
37 | 4/16/17 | La Liga | Granada / Celta Vigo | —; — | beIE; 50000 | 50,000 |
38 | 4/15/17 | Serie A | Inter Milan / AC Milan | beIN; 25000 | beIE; 18000 | 43,000 |
39 | 4/10/17 | La Liga | Sociedad / Sporting | beIN; 7000 | beIE; 24000 | 31,000 |
40 | 4/14/17 | La Liga | Athletic / Las Palmas | —; — | beIE; 26000 | 26,000 |
41 | 4/14/17 | Primeira Liga | Vitória / Sporting CP | —; — | UDN; 18000 | 18,000 |
42 | 4/14/17 | Ligue 1 | Angers / PSG | beIN; 18000 | —; — | 18,000 |
43 | 4/15/17 | Bundesliga | Hoffenheim / Mönchengladbach | FS2; 6000 | FOXD; 12000 | 18,000 |
44 | 4/13/17 | UEFA EL Quarter Finals | Ajax / Schalke | FS2; 17000 | —; — | 17,000 |
45 | 4/16/17 | Ligue 1 | Marseille / Saint-Étienne | beIN; 14000 | —; — | 14,000 |
46 | 4/14/17 | EFL Championship | Wolves / Brighton | beIN; 11000 | —; — | 11,000 |
47 | 4/15/17 | NASL | Armada / Deltas | beIN; 10000 | —; — | 10,000 |
48 | 4/14/17 | EFL Championship | Bristol / QPR | beIN; 5000 | —; — | 5,000 |
Comparison of viewing numbers for soccer leagues on US TV:
League | Average |
---|---|
Liga MX | 787,130 |
Premier League | 461,929 |
UEFA CL | 430,955 |
MLS | 256,286 |
La Liga | 154,411 |
NWSL | 82,000 |
Bundesliga | 75,683 |
Primeira Liga | 35,455 |
Serie A | 25,987 |
Ligue 1 | 16,583 |
Championship | 14,244 |
NASL | 5,000 |
MLS 2017 viewing average compared to previous years
League | Overall | ESPN | FOX | Univision |
---|---|---|---|---|
2017 MLS | 256,286 | 277,200 | 271,000 | 228,500 |
2016 MLS | 266,467 | 279,094 | 264,656 | 247,148 |
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