Sunday’s MLS “Decision Day” matchup between the Seattle Sounders and Real Salt Lake on ESPN delivered the network’s worst rating of the season. It also managed to underperform all four MLS matches to air on ESPN2.
Since the start of the Summer Olympics in August, Major League Soccer on ESPN has seen a 41% drop in viewership, averaging only 203,636 viewers in the 11 matches since. The first 17 matches on ESPN averaged 346,176 viewers. The Major League Soccer broadcast was once again ESPN’s least viewed bloc of the day.
On Sunday, the USL made its national television debut on ESPNU as New York Red Bulls II defeated Swope Park Rangers to win their first USL title. The broadcast ran two hours and averaged 14,000 viewers.
The Under-17 Women’s World Cup has concluded with North Korea being crowned champions. Matches were prominently featured on FOX Sports 2 while some also aired on NBC Universo. These networks combined to average 20,250 viewers for the tournament. The tournament reached its largest audience on October 8 for a group stage match between Brazil and England seen by 94,000, one of the few matches aired on the more widely available FOX Sports 1.
The Premier League on NBC recorded its second highest rating of the season on Saturday with 851,000 tuning in to watch Liverpool climb level on points with Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table.
The Premier League on NBC is averaging 792,000 viewers through four matches this season. The Premier League will return to the airwaves twice this weekend with Liverpool taking on Crystal Palace on Saturday, October 29 and Southampton facing Chelsea on Sunday, October 30.
Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for October 17-23, 2016:
| Rank | Date | Competition | Kickoff | Home | Away | TV1 | TV2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10/22/16 | Premier League | 12:30 PM | Liverpool | West Brom | NBC; 851000 | Unvso; 43000 | 894,000 |
| 2 | 10/23/16 | Liga MX | 9:00 PM | Chivas | Pachuca | —; — | UDN; 717000 | 717,000 |
| 3 | 10/23/16 | Premier League | 11:00 AM | Chelsea | Manchester United | NBCSN; 602000 | Telemundo; Not available | 602,000 |
| 4 | 10/22/16 | Liga MX | 8:00 PM | Querétaro | Club América | —; — | UDN; 570000 | 570,000 |
| 5 | 10/23/16 | Liga MX | 1:00 PM | Pumas | Tigres | Univision; 390000 | UDN; 155000 | 545,000 |
| 6 | 10/23/16 | La Liga | 2:45 PM | Real Madrid | Athletic | beIN; 111000 | beIE; 384000 | 495,000 |
| 7 | 10/22/16 | Premier League | 10:00 AM | Arsenal | Middlesbrough | NBCSN; 410000 | Unvso; 20000 | 430,000 |
| 8 | 10/18/16 | Copa MX | 9:30 PM | Club América | Chiapas | —; — | UDN; 423000 | 423,000 |
| 9 | 10/19/16 | Copa MX | 10:00 PM | Chivas | Oaxaca | —; — | UDN; 405000 | 405,000 |
| 10 | 10/17/16 | Premier League | 3:00 PM | Liverpool | Manchester United | NBCSN; 371000 | —; — | 371,000 |
| 11 | 10/23/16 | Liga MX | 7:00 PM | Santos Laguna | Atlas FC | —; — | UDN; 367000 | 367,000 |
| 12 | 10/22/16 | La Liga | 10:15 AM | Valencia | Barcelona | beIN; 112000 | beIE; 230000 | 342,000 |
| 13 | 10/22/16 | Liga MX | 6:00 PM | Cruz Azul | Puebla | —; — | UDN; 331000 | 331,000 |
| 14 | 10/23/16 | Premier League | 8:30 AM | Manchester City | Southampton | NBCSN; 320000 | Telemundo; Not available | 320,000 |
| 15 | 10/22/16 | Premier League | 7:30 AM | Bournemouth | Spurs | NBCSN; 263000 | Unvso; 26000 | 289,000 |
| 16 | 10/19/16 | UEFA Champions League | 2:45 PM | Barcelona | Manchester City | FS1; 282000 | ESPND; Not Available | 282,000 |
| 17 | 10/22/16 | Liga MX | 8:06 PM | León | Monarcas Morelia | —; — | UDN; 266000 | 266,000 |
| 18 | 10/19/16 | Copa MX | 8:00 PM | Cruz Azul | Querétaro | —; — | UDN; 258000 | 258,000 |
| 19 | 10/22/16 | Liga MX | 8:00 PM | Monterrey | Toluca | —; — | Gala; 191000 | 191,000 |
| 20 | 10/19/16 | Friendly (W) | 9:00 PM | United States WNT | Switzerland | ESPN2; 169000 | ; — | 169,000 |
| 21 | 10/20/16 | UEFA Europa League | 3:00 PM | Manchester United | Fenerbahçe | FS1; 165000 | ESPND; Not Available | 165,000 |
| 22 | 10/18/16 | UEFA Champions League | 2:45 PM | Real Madrid | Legia Warsaw | FSN; — | FOXD; 163000 | 163,000 |
| 23 | 10/23/16 | La Liga | 10:15 AM | Sevilla | Atletico Madrid | beIN; 16000 | beIE; 144000 | 160,000 |
| 24 | 10/23/16 | Friendly (W) | 1:45 PM | United States WNT | Switzerland | FS1; 149000 | —; — | 149,000 |
| 25 | 10/23/16 | MLS | 4:00 PM | Seattle Sounders | Real Salt Lake | ESPN; 141000 | ESPND; Not Available | 141,000 |
| 26 | 10/18/16 | UEFA Champions League | 2:45 PM | Bayer Leverkusen | Spurs | FS1; 137000 | ESPND; Not Available | 137,000 |
| 27 | 10/23/16 | MLS | 4:00 PM | Los Angeles Galaxy | FC Dallas | FS1; 64000 | FOXD; 44000 | 108,000 |
| 28 | 10/18/16 | CONCACAF CL | 10:00 PM | Herediano | Tigres | —; — | Gala; 106000 | 106,000 |
| 29 | 10/18/16 | UEFA Champions League | 2:45 PM | Leicester City | Copenhagen | ESPN2; 105000 | —; — | 105,000 |
| 30 | 10/23/16 | La Liga | 12:30 PM | Villareal | Las Palmas | —; — | beIE; 105000 | 105,000 |
| 31 | 10/20/16 | CONCACAF CL | 10:00 PM | W Connection | Pumas | —; — | UDN; 99000 | 99,000 |
| 32 | 10/22/16 | La Liga | 12:30 PM | Real Sociedad | Alaves | —; — | beIE; 81000 | 81,000 |
| 33 | 10/19/16 | UEFA Champions League | 2:45 PM | Paris Saint Germain | Basel | ESPN2; 74000 | —; — | 74,000 |
| 34 | 10/20/16 | CONCACAF CL | 8:00 PM | FC Dallas | Suchitepéquez | —; — | UDN; 71000 | 71,000 |
| 35 | 10/22/16 | Bundesliga | 9:30 AM | Bayer Leverkusen | Hoffenheim | —; — | FOXD; 59000 | 59,000 |
| 36 | 10/20/16 | UEFA Europa League | 1:00 PM | Inter Milan | Southampton | FS2; 55000 | —; — | 55,000 |
| 37 | 10/22/16 | La Liga | 2:45 PM | Granada | Sporting Gijon | —; — | beIE; 53000 | 53,000 |
| 38 | 10/22/16 | Primeira Liga | 3:30 PM | Porto | Arouca | —; — | UDN; 52000 | 52,000 |
| 39 | 10/23/16 | Bundesliga | 11:30 AM | Schalke 04 | Mainz | FS2; 18000 | FOXD; 31000 | 49,000 |
| 40 | 10/23/16 | Bundesliga | 9:30 AM | RB Leipzig | Werder Bremen | FS1; 46000 | —; — | 46,000 |
| 41 | 10/19/16 | UEFA Champions League | 2:45 PM | Arsenal | Ludogorets | FS2; 42000 | —; — | 42,000 |
| 42 | 10/22/16 | Bundesliga | 12:30 PM | Bayern Munich | Mönchengladbach | FS2; 38000 | —; — | 38,000 |
| 43 | 10/17/16 | U-17 World Cup (W) | 9:00 AM | Venezuela | North Korea | FS2; 28000 | Unvso; 3000 | 31,000 |
| 44 | 10/21/16 | U-17 World Cup (W) | 10:00 AM | Venezuela | Spain | FS2; 16000 | Unvso; 7000 | 23,000 |
| 45 | 10/22/16 | Bundesliga | 9:30 AM | Ingolstadt | Borussia Dortmund | FS2; 23000 | —; — | 23,000 |
| 46 | 10/20/16 | UEFA Europa League | 3:00 PM | Roma | Vienna | FS2; 22000 | —; — | 22,000 |
| 47 | 10/19/16 | UEFA Champions League | 2:45 PM | Bayern Munich | PSV Eindhoven | FSN; — | FOXD; 19000 | 19,000 |
| 48 | 10/21/16 | U-17 World Cup (W) | 1:00 PM | North Korea | Japan | FS2; 12000 | Unvso; 6000 | 18,000 |
| 49 | 10/18/16 | UEFA Champions League | 2:45 PM | Sporting CP | Borussia Dortmund | FS2; 17000 | —; — | 17,000 |
| 50 | 10/21/16 | La Liga | 2:45 PM | Osasuna | Real Betis | —; — | beIE; 17000 | 17,000 |
| 51 | 10/17/16 | U-17 World Cup (W) | 12:00 PM | Spain | Japan | FS2; 15000 | —; — | 15,000 |
| 52 | 10/23/16 | USL Cup | 8:00 PM | New York Red Bulls II | Swope Park Rangers | ESPNU; 14000 | —; — | 14,000 |
| 53 | 10/23/16 | Serie A | 9:00 AM | Atalanta | Inter Milan | beIN; 10000 | —; — | 10,000 |
| 54 | 10/21/16 | Ligue 1 | 2:45 PM | Monaco | Montpellier | beIN; 7000 | —; — | 7,000 |
| 55 | 10/17/16 | Serie A | 2:45 PM | Palermo | Torino | beIN; 3000 | —; — | 3,000 |
2016 MLS TV averages:
| Overall | ESPN | ESPN2 | ESPND | FOX | FS1 | FOXD | Univision | UniMás | UDN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 276,689 | 290,179 | 201,500 | 46,000 | 658,000 | 154,346 | 34,677 | 247,148 | 163,560 | 70,280 |
2016 Most popular soccer leagues on US TV:
| League | Average |
|---|---|
| Liga MX | 684,239 |
| Premier League | 419,614 |
| UEFA CL | 374,500 |
| MLS | 276,689 |
| La Liga | 138,446 |
| NWSL | 88,500 |
| Bundesliga | 75,800 |
| Primeira Liga | 38,400 |
| Serie A | 30,263 |
| Eredivisie | 28,200 |
| Championship | 17,600 |
| Ligue 1 | 11,833 |
| NASL | 7,563 |
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