Puebla’s 1-0 road win against Chivas de Guadalajara last week was the first Liga MX match of the Apertura to surpass the one million viewer number as 1.07 million tuned in to watch the game on Univision and Univision Deportes. Beginning with the start of the 2017 Apertura in July, Univision saw some changes to its Liga MX broadcasting schedule, adding two Friday night cable-only broadcasts. Because of this, generally seven Liga MX matches are broadcast live across Univision’s networks leading to slight decreases in average viewership and slight increases in total viewership each week. Through the first month of the apertura campaign, the league is averaging 499,625 viewers from 37 games for a total viewership of 16 million.
The Portland Timbers 2-0 win against the New York Red Bulls last Friday on FS1 ranked as the network’s second-smallest audience for an MLS match on the network in 2017 as just 121,000 viewers tuned in. After a strong month of March to open the 2017 MLS season, FOX Sports 1 has seen a 26% drop off in viewership. During the same period, ESPN has experienced a 20% drop.
In England, Arsenal’s 1-0 loss against Stoke City Saturday afternoon averaged 825,000 viewers on NBC and Universo, down 16% from 990,000 for Brighton’s Premier League debut against Manchester City last week. Sunday’s late kickoff saw a larger decrease in viewership, shedding 47% of its viewers on Telemundo alone as last week’s match did not feature Chicharito’s West Ham United.
Despite no games airing on the FOX broadcast network, Bundesliga ratings are up from the opening week of last year as an average of 83,400 viewers watched compared to just 75,000 in 2016. This is due in large part to FOX’s decision to air five matches on FS1 with Univision’s sub-licensing agreement also playing a significant role. Viewership could also have been affected by NBC’s decision to place many of Saturday’s Premier League matches behind an additional paywall (Premier League Pass).
Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for August 15-20, 2017:
Rank | Date | Competition | Teams | TV1 | TV2 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 8/19/17 | Liga MX | Chivas / Puebla | Univision; 662000 | UDN; 407000 | 1,069,000 |
2 | 8/19/17 | Premier League | Stoke City / Arsenal | NBC; 778000 | Unvso; 47000 | 825,000 |
3 | 8/20/17 | Premier League | Spurs / Chelsea | NBCSN; 629000 | Telemundo; 185000 | 814,000 |
4 | 8/19/17 | Premier League | Liverpool / Crystal Palace | NBCSN; 498000 | Unvso; 43000 | 541,000 |
5 | 8/19/17 | Premier League | Swansea City / Man Utd | NBCSN; 406000 | Unvso; 33000 | 439,000 |
6 | 8/16/17 | Spanish Supercopa | Real Madrid / Barcelona | ESPN2; 315000 | —; — | 315,000 |
7 | 8/20/17 | Premier League | Huddersfield / Newcastle | NBCSN; 289000 | —; — | 289,000 |
8 | 8/19/17 | Liga MX | Cruz Azul / Atlas | —; — | UDN; 285000 | 285,000 |
9 | 8/19/17 | Liga MX | Tigres / Pumas | —; — | UDN; 274000 | 274,000 |
10 | 8/16/17 | Copa MX | Potros / América | —; — | UDN; 261000 | 261,000 |
11 | 8/18/17 | Liga MX | Tijuana / Santos | —; — | UDN; 230000 | 230,000 |
12 | 8/18/17 | Liga MX | Morelia / Pachuca | —; — | UDN; 188000 | 188,000 |
13 | 8/15/17 | UEFA CL Playoff | Hoffenheim / Liverpool | FS1; 184000 | —; — | 184,000 |
14 | 8/15/17 | Copa MX | Cruz Azul / Zapateca | —; — | UDN; 184000 | 184,000 |
15 | 8/20/17 | MLS | Seattle Sounders / Minnesota United | FS1; 164000 | FOXD; 18000 | 182,000 |
16 | 8/19/17 | Liga MX | Leon / Monterrey | —; — | Gala; 153000 | 153,000 |
17 | 8/18/17 | MLS | Timbers / Red Bulls | FS1; 121000 | FOXD; 17000 | 138,000 |
18 | 8/20/17 | Liga MX | Toluca / Necaxa | —; — | UDN; 137000 | 137,000 |
19 | 8/15/17 | Copa MX | Celaya / Monterrey | —; — | UDN; 135000 | 135,000 |
20 | 8/18/17 | Bundesliga | Bayern / Leverkusen | FS1; 106000 | FOXD; 19000 | 125,000 |
21 | 8/19/17 | NWSL | Courage / Spirit | Lifetime; 109000 | —; — | 109,000 |
22 | 8/19/17 | Bundesliga | Wolfsburg / Dortmund | FS1; 83000 | UDN; 18000 | 101,000 |
23 | 8/17/17 | CONCACAF League | Alianza / Olimpia | —; — | UDN; 86000 | 86,000 |
24 | 8/20/17 | Bundesliga | Mönchengladbach / Köln | FS1; 60000 | FOXD; 17000 | 77,000 |
25 | 8/19/17 | Bundesliga | Schalke / Leipzig | FS1; 46000 | UDN; 20000 | 66,000 |
26 | 8/17/17 | CONCACAF League | Walter Ferreti / Plaza Amador | —; — | UDN; 62000 | 62,000 |
27 | 8/20/17 | Bundesliga | Freiburg / Frankfurt | FS1; 36000 | FOXD; 12000 | 48,000 |
28 | 8/19/17 | NASL | Cosmos / Indy Eleven | beIN; 7000 | —; — | 7,000 |
Average MLS viewing audiences on US TV:
League | Overall* | ESPN | ESPN2 | FOX | FS1 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017 MLS | 252,202 (47) | 298,941 (17) | 220,000 (5) | 440,750 (4) | 183,450** (20) |
2016 MLS | 257,683 (63) | 290,179 (28) | 201,500 (4) | 658,000 (5) | 154,346 (26) |
2017 NWSL | 95,176 (17) | ||||
2017 USL | 19,000 (2) | *English-Only | |||
**One game missing |
League averages this season:
League | Viewers |
---|---|
EPL | 603,455 |
LMX | 499,625 |
MLS | 252,202 |
NWSL | 95,176 |
BuLi | 83,400 |
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