Premier League Championship Sunday viewership on the NBC network saw little change from last season as just 10,000 fewer people watched Arsenal defeat Everton. However, viewership was down 19% when compared to 2015’s final day match between Manchester United and Hull City.
Major League Soccer on ESPN saw a viewership increase of 11% this week as the Los Angeles Galaxy defeated expansion side Minnesota United 2-1. After ten matches, MLS is averaging 273,300 viewers on ESPN’s networks, with that number increasing to 286,000 when ESPN2’s three matches are excluded. The numbers are looking very similar when compared to ESPN’s first 10 games last season, which averaged 274,700 viewers.
The National Women’s Soccer League has posted at least 100,000 viewers on Lifetime for the second consecutive week bringing the league’s average viewership up to 90,500 viewers after six games. Last season the NWSL averaged only 88,500 viewers after 6 matches on FS1, including two semifinals and the final.
Finally, the Bundesliga on FOX managed to draw its second largest audience of the season as 395,000 tuned in for Bayern Munich’s final match of the season against SC Freiburg. FOX concluded the 2016-17 Bundesliga campaign averaging 327,714 viewers from seven matches available over the air. For comparison, NBC concluded their coverage of the Premier League averaging 855,583 viewers over 24 matches.
Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for May 15-21, 2017:
Average viewing audiences for soccer leagues on US TV:
Rank | Date | Competition | Teams | TV | Viewership |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5/21/17 | Liga MX Liguilla | Chivas / Toluca | UniMás; 1442000 | 1,442,000 |
2 | 5/18/17 | Liga MX Liguilla | Tigres / Tijuana | UDN; 924000 | 924,000 |
3 | 5/21/17 | Premier League | Arsenal / Everton | NBC; 787000 | 787,000 |
4 | 5/18/17 | Liga MX Liguilla | Toluca / Chivas | UDN; 659000 | 659,000 |
5 | 5/20/17 | Bundesliga | Bayern / Freiburg | FOX; 395000 | 395,000 |
6 | 5/20/17 | Ascenso MX | Dorados / Lobos | UDN; 390000 | 390,000 |
7 | 5/21/17 | MLS | Minnesota United / Los Angeles Galaxy | ESPN; 331000 | 331,000 |
8 | 5/21/17 | Premier League | Liverpool / Middlesbrough | NBCSN; 298000 | 298,000 |
9 | 5/21/17 | La LIga | Malaga / Real Madrid | beIN; 207000 | 207,000 |
10 | 5/21/17 | MLS | Orlando City / New York City | FS1/D; 189000 | 189,000 |
11 | 5/15/17 | Premier League | Chelsea / Watford | NBCSN; 180000 | 180,000 |
12 | 5/16/17 | Premier League | Arsenal / Sunderland | NBCSN; 173000 | 173,000 |
13 | 5/20/17 | MLS | DC United / Chicago Fire | UniMás; 164000 | 164,000 |
14 | 5/17/17 | Premier League | Southampton / Man Utd | NBCSN; 155000 | 155,000 |
15 | 5/21/17 | Premier League | Chelsea / Sunderland | SyFy; 136000 | 136,000 |
16 | 5/21/17 | Premier League | Watford / Man City | USA/Unvso; 115000 | 115,000 |
17 | 5/21/17 | Premier League | Man Utd / Crystal Palace | CNBC; 102000 | 102,000 |
18 | 5/20/17 | NWSL | Sky Blue / Dash | Lifetime; 100000 | 100,000 |
19 | 5/21/17 | Premier League | Burnley / West Ham | Oxygen; 37000 | 37,000 |
20 | 5/21/17 | Premier League | Swansea City / West Brom | Esquire; 1000 | 1,000 |
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