Liga MX returned to American television last week with an average audience of 653,714 viewers on Univision’s networks, down 26% from the 2017 Clasura. However, it is worth noting that as of the 2017 Apertura, more matches are aired live on Univision’s networks across more timeslots. Total viewership for the first week of the season was up almost 4% at 4.58 million.

Meanwhile, FA Cup 3rd Round matches on FS1 averaged 284,600 viewers last week, up 15% from 247,167 for the 2016-17 edition of the competition. Max viewership for the round was reached during Nottingham Forest’s shocking 4-2 victory over Arsenal on Sunday with 370,000 people tuning in. This just slightly edges out the most-viewed match of the 3rd round in 2017 as 369,000 watched Arsenal defeat Preston North End on FS1.

Individual Premier League games on NBC surpassed 1 million viewers for six straight weeks recently when Manchester United’s match against Southampton drew a combined 1.005 million viewers on NBCSN and Universo. Viewership peaked with the season high 1.397 million viewers for the Manchester Derby on December 10, which at the time saw the streak extended to a third week. Other notable matches during this run include Liverpool-Chelsea, Man City-Spurs and Leicester City-Man United, which all managed to draw over 1.1 million viewers.

Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for December 26, 2017 to January 7, 2018:

Rank Date Competition Teams TV1 TV2 Total
1 1/7/18 Liga MX Querétaro / América Univision; 1176000 UDN; — 1,176,000
2 12/30/17 Premier League Man Utd / Southampton NBC; 932000 Unvso; 73000 1,005,000
3 1/6/18 Liga MX Monterrey / Monarcas Univision; 777000 UDN; — 777,000
4 1/7/18 Liga MX Toluca / Chivas Univision; 731000 UDN; — 731,000
5 1/1/18 Premier League Everton / Man Utd NBCSN; 533000 Unvso; 86000 619,000
6 1/6/18 Liga MX Necaxa / Veracruz Univision; 507000 UDN; — 507,000
7 12/30/17 Premier League Liverpool / Leicester City NBCSN; 498000 —; — 498,000
8 12/26/17 Premier League Man Utd / Burnley NBCSN; 444000 Unvso; 34000 478,000
9 1/3/18 Premier League Arsenal / Chelsea NBCSN; 367000 Unvso; 78000 445,000
10 1/1/18 Premier League Burnley / Liverpool NBCSN; 388000 Unvso; 49000 437,000
11 12/31/17 Premier League West Brom / Arsenal NBCSN; 412000 —; — 412,000
12 12/26/17 Premier League Liverpool / Swansea NBCSN; 402000 —; — 402,000
13 1/5/18 Liga MX Atlas / León —; — UDN; 395000 395,000
14 1/7/18 La Liga Barcelona / Levante —; — beIE; 395000 395,000
15 1/4/18 Premier League Spurs / West Ham NBCSN; 327000 Unvso; 51000 378,000
16 1/7/18 FA Cup Nottingham Forest / Arsenal FS1; 370000 —; — 370,000
17 1/5/18 Liga MX Puebla / Tigres —; — UDN; 366000 366,000
18 1/6/18 Liga MX Cruz Azul / Tijuana —; — UDN; 351000 351,000
19 1/2/18 Premier League Swansea / Spurs NBCSN; 287000 Unvso; 57000 344,000
20 1/6/18 FA Cup Norwich / Chelsea FS1; 333000 —; — 333,000
21 1/6/18 FA Cup Man City / Burnley FS1; 295000 —; — 295,000
22 1/7/18 La Liga Celta Vigo / Real Madrid —; — beIE; 289000 289,000
23 12/27/17 Premier League Newcastle / Man City NBCSN; 287000 —; — 287,000
24 12/28/17 Premier League Crystal Palace / Arsenal NBCSN; 283000 —; — 283,000
25 1/6/18 Liga MX Pachuca / Pumas —; — Gala; 273000 273,000
26 1/4/18 Copa Del Rey Celta / Barcelona —; — beIE; 238000 238,000
27 1/5/18 FA Cup Liverpool / Everton FS1; 224000 —; — 224,000
28 1/4/18 Copa Del Rey Numancia / Real Madrid —; — beIE; 220000 220,000
29 12/31/17 Premier League Crystal Palace / Man City NBCSN; 206000 —; — 206,000
30 1/7/18 FA Cup Shrewsbury Town / West Ham FS1; 201000 —; — 201,000
31 12/26/17 Premier League Spurs / Southampton NBCSN; 162000 —; — 162,000
32 12/30/17 Premier League Chelsea / Stoke City CNBC; 109000 —; — 109,000

SEE MORE: Access our archives of US TV ratings for soccer.

HT ShowBuzz Daily