Real Madrid’s 2-0 defeat against Atlético Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League Semi Finals drew 779,000 viewers on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes, falling short of the 858,000 that tuned in for Real Madrid and Bayern Munich’s matchup in the previous round and falling in as the second most-watched Champions League match on FOX Sports’ networks this season.
Sunday afternoon’s MLS match between New York City FC and Atlanta United drew 368,000 viewers for the second of six scheduled matches to be broadcast on Univision in 2017. Viewership was down 28% from 509,000 viewers for Univision’s season opening broadcast on March 4th. Also on Sunday, FOX Sports 1’s MLS viewership numbers saw some improvement over last week but remained disappointing as the network drew 167,000 viewers.
In the women’s game, Saturday’s match between the Chicago Red Stars and Houston Dash averaged 69,000 viewers on Lifetime, in direct competition with ESPN’s broadcast featuring the Seattle Sounders and Toronto FC which drew 305,000 viewers. Four games into the NWSL new broadcast agreement with Lifetime the league is averaging 83,500 viewers.
Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for May 1-7, 2017:
Average viewing audiences for soccer leagues on US TV:
| Rank | Date | Competition | Teams | TV | Column1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5/6/17 | Liga MX | Leon / Cruz Azul | Univision | 905,000 |
| 2 | 5/6/17 | Liga MX | América / Pachuca | Univision | 877,000 |
| 3 | 5/2/17 | UEFA CL Semi | Real Madrid / Atlético Madrid | FS1/D | 779,000 |
| 4 | 5/7/17 | Premier League | Arsenal / Man Utd | NBCSN | 767,000 |
| 5 | 5/6/17 | Premier League | Swansea City / Everton | NBC | 709,000 |
| 6 | 5/7/17 | Liga MX | Pumas / Puebla | Univision | 532,000 |
| 7 | 5/7/17 | MLS | New York City / Atlanta United | Univision | 368,000 |
| 8 | 5/7/17 | Premier League | Liverpool / Southampton | NBCSN | 358,000 |
| 9 | 5/3/17 | UEFA CL Semi | Monaco / Juventus | FS1 | 310,000 |
| 10 | 5/6/17 | Premier League | Hull City / Sunderland | NBCSN | 310,000 |
| 11 | 5/6/17 | MLS | Seattle Sounders / Toronto FC | ESPN | 305,000 |
| 12 | 5/6/17 | Premier League | Man City / Crystal Palace | NBCSN | 302,000 |
| 13 | 5/7/17 | Liga MX | Santos / Toluca | UDN | 289,000 |
| 14 | 5/6/17 | Liga MX | Querétaro / Tigres | UDN | 263,000 |
| 15 | 5/5/17 | Premier League | West Ham / Spurs | NBCSN | 201,000 |
| 16 | 5/1/17 | Premier League | Watford / Liverpool | NBCSN | 195,000 |
| 17 | 5/5/17 | CNCAF U17 Champ. | Costa Rica / Mexico | UDN | 186,000 |
| 18 | 5/7/17 | MLS | Minnesota United / Sporting Kansas City | FS1 | 180,000 |
| 19 | 5/4/17 | UEFA EL Semi | Celta Vigo / Man Utd | FS1 | 174,000 |
| 20 | 5/6/17 | Liga MX | Necaxa / Chivas | Gala | 99,000 |
| 21 | 5/6/17 | NWSL | Red Stars / Dash | Lifetime | 69,000 |
MLS 2017 viewing average compared to previous years
| League | Overall | ESPN | ESPN2 | FOX | FS1 | Univision | UniMás |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 MLS | 228,897 (30) | 274,400 (6) | 272,000 (2) | 346,000 (1) | 190,500 (11) | 438,500 (2) | 188,375 (9) |
| 2016 MLS | 254,522 (90) | 290,179 (28) | 201,500 (4) | 658,000 (5) | 154,346 (26) | 1,004,000 (1) | 223,120 (25) |
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