Last week saw two Premier League matches break the one million viewer mark. Saturday afternoon’s match between Manchester United and Leicester City drew 1.137 million viewers across NBC and Universo, up 38% from the same window last week and up 15% from the opening weekend. Then on Sunday, Liverpool’s 4-0 destruction of Arsenal drew 1.073 million viewers on NBCSN and Telemundo, up 4% from the opening weekend match which featured Chicharito’s West Ham United debut.
Bundesliga match week two ratings were up 56% from last season. Viewership peaked on Saturday when both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund were featured on FOX Sports 1. Through the first two weeks of the season, eight of the 11 Bundesliga matches available to cable subscribers have been on FOX Sports 1 with those matches averaging 104,750 viewers with Spanish-language viewership included.
MLS saw a slight increase in viewership for Heineken Rivalry Week broadcasts with the weekends four nationally-televised matches averaging 250,250 viewers on ESPN and FOX Sports 1, up just 7% from the 234,500 average cable viewers for the season before this weekend. However, when comparing this weekend’s numbers to the six other matches broadcast in August, viewership was up 27%.
Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for August 15-20, 2017:
Rank | Date | Competition | Teams | TV1 | TV2 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 8/26/17 | Premier League | Man Utd / Leicester City | NBC; 1071000 | Unvso; 66000 | 1,137,000 |
2 | 8/27/17 | Premier League | Liverpool / Arsenal | NBCSN; 694000 | Telemundo; 379000 | 1,073,000 |
3 | 8/26/17 | Liga MX | Tigres / Lobos | Univision; 551000 | UDN; 309000 | 860,000 |
4 | 8/26/17 | Liga MX | Chivas / Querétaro | Univision; 530000 | UDN; 279000 | 809,000 |
5 | 8/23/17 | Liga MX | América / Tigres | —; — | UDN; 596000 | 596,000 |
6 | 8/27/17 | La Liga | Real Madrid / Valencia | beIN; 129000 | beIE; 431000 | 560,000 |
7 | 8/26/17 | Liga MX | Cruz Azul / Monterrey | —; — | UDN; 432000 | 432,000 |
8 | 8/26/17 | Premier League | West Ham / Newcastle | NBCSN; 356000 | Unvso; 65000 | 421,000 |
9 | 8/27/17 | MLS | Seattle Sounders / Portland Timers | FS1; 326000 | FOXD; 16000 | 342,000 |
10 | 8/26/17 | La Liga | Alavés / Barcelona | beIN; 90000 | beIE; 245000 | 335,000 |
11 | 8/26/17 | Liga MX | Monarcas / América | —; — | Gala; 331000 | 331,000 |
12 | 8/25/17 | MLS | New York Red Bulls / New York City | ESPN; 326000 | —; — | 326,000 |
13 | 8/21/17 | Premier League | Man City / Everton | NBCSN; 301000 | —; — | 301,000 |
14 | 8/23/17 | Liga MX | Monterrey / Toluca | UniMás; 275000 | —; — | 275,000 |
15 | 8/22/17 | Liga MX | Pumas / Morelia | UniMás; 267000 | —; — | 267,000 |
16 | 8/27/17 | Premier League | Chelsea / Everton | CNBC; 230000 | —; — | 230,000 |
17 | 8/25/17 | Liga MX | Tijuana / Pachuca | —; — | UDN; 228000 | 228,000 |
18 | 8/27/17 | Liga MX | Veracruz / Pumas | —; — | UDN; 213000 | 213,000 |
19 | 8/23/17 | Liga MX | Necaxa / Cruz Azul | —; — | UDN; 207000 | 207,000 |
20 | 8/22/17 | Liga MX | Pachuca / Veracruz | —; — | UDN; 194000 | 194,000 |
21 | 8/27/17 | MLS | Los Angeles Galaxy / San Jose Earthquakes | FS1; 168000 | FOXD; 23000 | 191,000 |
22 | 8/26/17 | Premier League | Bournemouth / Man City | NBCSN; 169000 | Unvso; 20000 | 189,000 |
23 | 8/27/17 | MLS | Montreal Impact / Toronto FC | ESPN; 181000 | —; — | 181,000 |
24 | 8/26/17 | Bundesliga | Bremen / Bayern | FS1; 124000 | UDN; 38000 | 162,000 |
25 | 8/26/17 | Bundesliga | Dortmund / Hertha | FS1; 142000 | FOXD; 14000 | 156,000 |
26 | 8/22/17 | Liga MX | Querétaro / Tijuana | —; — | UDN; 152000 | 152,000 |
27 | 8/23/17 | UEFA CL Playoff | Hoffenheim / Liverpool | FS1; 152000 | —; — | 152,000 |
28 | 8/26/17 | NWSL | Kansas City / Orlando | Lifetime; 113000 | —; — | 113,000 |
29 | 8/25/17 | Ligue 1 | PSG / Saint-Étienne | beIN; 91000 | beIE; 19000 | 110,000 |
30 | 8/27/17 | Liga MX | Toluca / Puebla | —; — | UDN; 106000 | 106,000 |
31 | 8/27/17 | Bundesliga | Leipzig / Freiburg | FS1; 81000 | UDN; 22000 | 103,000 |
32 | 8/24/17 | CONCACAF League | Olimpia / Alianza | —; — | UDN; 102000 | 102,000 |
33 | 8/26/17 | Serie A | Roma / Inter Milan | —; — | beIE; 98000 | 98,000 |
34 | 8/27/17 | La Liga | Getafe / Sevilla | —; — | beIE; 98000 | 98,000 |
35 | 8/26/17 | La Liga | Las Palmas / Atlético Madrid | beIN; 20000 | beIE; 77000 | 97,000 |
36 | 8/25/17 | Bundesliga | Köln / Hamburg | FS2; 31000 | UDN; 9000 | 40,000 |
37 | 8/24/17 | CONCACAF League | Plaza Amador / Walter Ferreti | —; — | UDN; 38000 | 38,000 |
38 | 8/27/17 | Serie A | Torino / Sassuolo | beIN; 16000 | —; — | 16,000 |
39 | 8/27/17 | Bundesliga | Hannover / Schalke | FS2; 14000 | —; — | 14,000 |
40 | 8/26/17 | Bundesliga | Leverkusen / Hoffenheim | FS2; 6000 | —; — | 6,000 |
41 | 8/26/17 | NASL | Puerto Rico FC / Miami FC | beIN; 5000 | —; — | 5,000 |
Average MLS viewing audiences on US TV:
League | Overall* | ESPN | ESPN2 | FOX | FS1 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017 MLS | 255,279 (52) | 294,158 (19) | 220,000 (5) | 440,750 (4) | 189,227** (22) |
2016 MLS | 257,683 (63) | 290,179 (28) | 201,500 (4) | 658,000 (5) | 154,346 (26) |
2017 NWSL | 96,167 (16) | ||||
2017 USL | 19,000 (2) | *English-Only | |||
**One game missing |
League averages this season:
League | Viewers |
---|---|
EPL | 587,588 |
LMX | 480,419 |
MLS | 255,279 |
NWSL | 96,167 |
BuLi | 89,800 |
SEE MORE: Access our archives of US TV ratings for soccer.
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