Major League Soccer has a TV ratings problem, and it’s named FOX Soccer.
During the penultimate weekend of the regular season when teams are typically fighting to finish in the top 4 seeds in the playoffs, you would expect FOX Sports to generate impressive viewing numbers for two vital games featuring clubs that are based in the top two TV markets in the country.
Instead, Sunday night’s double bill of New York Red Bulls versus DC United followed by Minnesota United against LAFC averaged just 81,500 fans on FS1. That’s despite FS1 being in 84 million households across the United States.
Both games (RBNY-DCU; 79,000 viewers and MNUFC-LAFC; 84,000 viewers) had points on the line with the Red Bulls and DC United fighting it out to see who would finish as the number 4 seed, while LAFC — in their game — were chasing a Supporters’ Shield trophy at the same time that the Loons were fighting to improve their chances of finishing as the number 2 through 4 seed.
This is the time of the season when MLS games should see a rise in viewership because the games are more meaningful. After all, MLS pundits such as Alexi Lalas have been trying to drive home the narrative of parity in MLS for years. But yet the numbers still are miniscule.
At the same time, MLS fans are quick to spit out their list of excuses why MLS sees its TV ratings crater in the fall (“NFL,” “college football,” “MLS games are on too late,” “MLS games are on too early,” etc).
Yet Sunday’s viewing numbers aren’t an isolated problem either.
Just two weeks prior, the MLS game between LA Galaxy and Sporting KC — another game with big playoff implications — averaged only 72,000 viewers on FS1.
These are pitiful numbers.
The trend of disappointing numbers continued during Major League Soccer’s recent Rivalry Week, when the two major English-language broadcasters (FOX and ESPN) showcased some of the league’s best talent and biggest rivalries in MLS.
While ESPN had some enviable games (in particular, the derby between Portland-Seattle), FOX Soccer televised the golden goose of the bunch — a highly anticipated clash between LAFC and LA Galaxy, a rivalry dubbed “El Trafico.”
This match had all the makings of an instant classic, and a match that casual and hardcore MLS fans would turn into. LAFC were running away with the Western Conference, and their Mexican forward Carlos Vela was the runaway favorite for Most Valuable Player. The Galaxy, the most successful team in MLS history, were firmly in the playoff picture, and had Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Enough said.
The match did not disappoint — a salivating 3-3 draw featuring goals from both Vela and Ibrahimovic, a result which FOX pundit Alexi Lalas dubbed “one of the great games in MLS history.”
And yet, FOX’s broadcast garnered only 217,000 viewers. That ranked lower than ESPN’s third (not first, or second, but third) highest rated broadcast of the weekend, a Friday night match between Orlando City and Atlanta United, which clocked in at 266,000 viewers. ESPN’s highest rated broadcast, between Portland and Seattle, blew FOX Sports out of the water, racking up an impressive 304,000 viewers.
MLS viewership as a whole may not be where the league wants it to be especially with the Premier League consistently breaking over a million viewers every weekend but the issue of viewership is even more dire for FOX.
Consider the circumstances. In the Rivalry Week, FOX had the marquee matchup, with the best team and two of the best players. The Galaxy are probably the most reputable franchise in MLS, and LAFC are certainly the highest flying at the moment. And yet, despite an on-field product that was truly exhilarating (I can’t disagree with Lalas, the game was magnificent), they fell well short of the standard set by ESPN.
SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming
Put simply, MLS has a TV ratings problem, and it’s FOX Soccer. The broadcaster continues to fall short of the standard set by ESPN, which is interesting considering MLS is their biggest point of emphasis when it comes to club soccer. FOX places their top talent (John Strong and Stu Holden) on marquee MLS games over their Bundesliga coverage, whereas ESPN puts emphasis on MLS as well as Serie A in addition to the abundance of other soccer leagues it has on ESPN+.
ESPN’s dominance in the ratings isn’t their only leg up on FOX. Tthe critical reception is also in Bristol’s favor. ESPN’s coverage of the 2010 and 2014 World Cups were largely celebrated. Respected, reputable broadcasters such as Martin Tyler and Jon Champion were brought in, and the studio coverage anchored by Bob Ley was informative and organized.
FOX, on the other hand, were much maligned for their coverage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Strong and Holden, despite being experienced MLS broadcasters, at times lacked the experience and the skill to be the lead team of a World Cup broadcast. The same goes for JP Dellacamera and Tony Meola. FOX’s “America First” strategy towards last summer’s World Cup often left fans, myself included, disappointed that some of the biggest moments weren’t called by more reputable broadcasters.
FOX has certainly come a long way from the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final, where they actually ran a segment comparing “football” to American football” (which is, frankly, insulting to an audience that wanted genuine analysis of two of the premier teams in world soccer), but regardless, they continue to struggle in both the ratings and amongst public perception.
ESPN have plenty to offer for the soccer fan — tons of live games, ESPN FC broadcast daily, informative YouTube spots, and respected commentators. FOX Sports have … Alexi Lalas? Rob Stone?
FOX Soccer continues to invest in soccer, having broadcast the last men’s and women’s World Cup, as well as the rights to the next World Cups in 2022 and 2026. However, their stance on broadcasting (focusing on American talent and on the American product) has not paid dividends, as they continue to lag behind ESPN.
All y’all do is bitch about Fox, it’s really comedic now.
American Football just sucks all the oxygen out of the sports room now.
NFL and NCAA football pretty much crush all other sports at this time of year. And add to that MLB playoffs and NBA and NHL returning, it’s very tough for MLS to generate any national buzz
MLS draws better on Friday Night than Sunday… during the NFL season.
Meanwhile liquid water is wet, the sky is blue on a clear day, and FIFA is still as corrupt as the mob.
But if was behind the ESPN sunday braodcast which had the highest number.
You could make exactly the same points about other properties that both FOX and ESPN are rightsholders to: MLB, college football specifically. Add MLS to the list – ESPN always outrates FS1. Its exceedingly rare for FS1 to beat ESPN head to head. This is no different.
Also, those 75k-150k in viewers are peanuts compared to the multimillions in viewers Fox and ESPN pull in, and compete with, for the other properties.
To the point above, “American football sucks the oxygen out of the sports room” – couldn’t agree more. The 75k-150 delta in viewership isn’t a blip on the radar when the late NFL window and Sunday night game range from 20mln to 25mln. Even if FS1 matched ESPN ‘s #s – so what?
The next time MLS is up for renewal, just go to mostly ESPN+ and be done with it. Fox treats real Football like a cartoon.
Same old tired announcing styling of Alexi Lalas who decided at some point that if you are on TV you have to disagree with whoever is speaking to make it “exciting”. I just mute the TV whenever he is on… and he is *always* on
I would have watched but Fox and DISH/Sling TV could not come to an agreement on their contract so Fox is no longer available to those customers. As a viewer, I did not have a choice!
Need better product, more prompting the league, more games on FOX instead of FS1 and schedule games on Friday nights. No games should be on same time as
NFL.
Did the Dish/Sling blackout have anything to do with it?
More than likely yes DISH/SLING have a little over 12 million subscribers that have been blacked out of FS1.
Lalas is the only credible personality on Fox soccer… Basically, everyone else is an unknown to 99% of the people in this country… You have to be a hard-core MLS fan to know the rest of these guys! The reason that nobody watches these games is because they are on FS1 etc. and no one can even find these channels. Everyone knows where to go for ESPN… Also agree completely that the NFL games and college football completely drown out these games at this time… There should never be an MLS game up against NFL broadcast…it’s just not going to work if you put them against each other.
Best explanation I heard is that truth is FS1 is just a knock off channel with no original property rights with no exclusive rights and real following. Everything they have can be had for better at ESPN. Even their MLB games aren’t exclusive(local broadcast) and the bigger games are normally pulled to Big FOX. Even their day time studio programs are just knock off versions of what airs on ESPN. FS1 has basically cultivated a brand as being a knockoff channel.
Yes, when they launched about 5 years ago had the chance to become something fresh from the tired hot take shows ESPN had. Instead they just overpaid to steal the worst of the hot take artists such as Skip Bayless. Since they lost UCL and EL barely watch FS1 or FS2 now unless tuning into a random Bundesliga match if the Serie A or La Liga offerings at the same time are boring or not competitive (also HT or between match windows).
I guess if you’re a fan of NASCAR, MLB, and college sports it would be a destination, but like you said ESPN also has the same for the most part. In the case of college sports they usually have the better conferences too.
This is why I loved beIN so much. Something different and good analysis while still entertaining on shows such as The Locker Room. They really need to bring that back, someone other than Kay Murray can host! Gave up on Weekend Winners after a couple weeks and Magisterial a lighter imposter of The Locker Room. Also miss The Xtra.
NBC needs to get back in the MLS game. I was sad when they basically said screw domestic soccer. They put out a decent product back in the day. I miss Kyle Martino doing color commentary from the sidelines.
NBC never said “screw domestic soccer.” They were interested in bidding to renew the MLS TV rights they had, but MLS wanted inflated rights fees for the coverage that NBC could not justify paying.
Instead of being greedy, MLS could have come back to the table with a more realistic offer, but they went for the money instead of long-term growth with a valuable partner.
Seems to be common theme looking at Bundesliga, Bundesliga don’t need the immediate money, I however don’t knock MLS for grabbing the cash when they did, as it can strongly be argued they needed the money to help push the league forward. Taking a lower bid then would have most likely resulted in current /lowered future TV rights money, Now MLS is probably looking at individual broadcast partners paying possibly $100mil+ each next TV deal. If they would’ve taken lower they probably be just getting already what they have now in 2022.
I do agree NBC is the better fit than FS1. I do think the league is at a much better place standard wise to benefit much more from NBC then back in the day. While I don’t think they sever a partnership with FOX due to World Cup synergy, I think MLS would be stupid not to offer NBC a package of some kind at whatever reasonable price especially since there will be alot of added inventory of games due to expansion 30-32 teams.
Do you have MLS TV ratings abroad?
Unfortunately MLS are unwilling to share them. And we’ve asked them directly.
Although many of the stars from CONCACAF play in the MLS, that is about as high a player skill level that the league should ever expect (except stars ending their careers from Europe). I think it is safe to say that in the history of American soccer leagues, not one CURRENT world class player has ever played in a league in this country. If you are used to the best, MLS is far from the best…so, why the confusion about the poor ratings!?
None of the talk shows on ESPN or Fox Sports 1 talk about the MLS or any soccer news. It’s American Sports 24/7. Do you ever see any of the hosts or guests on either channel get excited about any MLS player or game? ESPN & Fox Sports don’t even have a highlights show for people to watch and perhaps find a little interest in the league.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a season ticket holder for my local MLS team, but all in all, it matters very little if my team finishes 1st in the conference or 7th (playoff worthy position).
Besides, end of year table position doesn’t carry the same weight as other leagues I can see on TV. In my opinion, that’s a big factor of why it’s easy to lose interest in closely watching the league throughout a season, let alone whatever local team a person supports.