Photo credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
In the third and final article in the series about MLS TV ratings, we can reveal that MLS does better when the other soccer leagues are not playing.
The table below shows the monthly figures for MLS viewing this year since March:
| Month | Avg. Viewers Per Game |
|---|---|
| March | 284,667 |
| April | 246,000 |
| May | 277,571 |
| June | 478,200 |
| July | 324,100 |
| August | 166,706 |
| September | 297,545 |
| October | 214,071 |
| November | 286,429 |
Clearly, the best months are June and July when only baseball is being played in the US and the other major soccer leagues are between seasons (of course, Euro 2016 ran from June 10 to July 10, so there was still some competition, but none of that was prime time).
MLS is competing in an overcrowded market. Between August and December, MLS supplied only 6% of soccer games shown on TV, at the same time as facing competition from the NFL and college football, as well, for at least part of the time, from MLB, NBA and NHL. Worse still, the rival soccer leagues are not dependent on the US market, and so are always likely to offer competitive deals.
This is shocking. Never would have thought this.
I can’t wait for the comments…
Wait you mean to tell me better leagues on TV outdraw MLS when fans have the option???? GTFO, no way! I cant believe you’re a college professor. I bet your classes are riveting!
If you’d ever read the book Soccernomics, which he co-authored, you’d know he’s a lot smarter than you.
You sound intelligent…Maybe you can write the next ground breaking article. How about “More people like going to soccer games in person as opposed to watching on TV”.
You sound angry, Timmy
This is kinda like saying TNA draws better ratings when Raw isn’t on….
So with this, MLS fans will still complain. Just accept the fact that most soccer loving fans don’t like MLS.
I was watching an MLS game last season that seemed exciting-it had nice goals, nice saves, and drama. I thought I was being entertained– but then I remembered that in England the quality of play is much better so I slapped myself in the face to get rid of the feeling. Premier League games are the best quality and are never boring to watch. Also the defending is obviously very high class. There are rarely any missed chances or own goals, or mistakes. And no matter which teams you watch, the quality is the best. And I’m pretty sure there are like 5 goals per game whereas in MLS it’s like only 1 or 2. That’s because they players aren’t as good. It’s like caviar vs burgers. I know which one I’d want!
Just the other day I watched Watford vs. Hull–or was it Middlesbrough–and all of the players were obviously more skillful than those in MLS. Each year, ,y friends and I have so much fun picking a fav team, like Burnley or Bournemouth or Stoke, and then cheer them on each and every week to see if they can battle their way to the “top half of the table.” That would be so cool if they did that. A guy can dream, right? Oh the stress! the stakes! the tension!
But maybe the most excitement in the EPL is in the “Relegation Battle.” From even before the half-way point of the season some teams’ fans get to thrill in the quest to not finish in the worst 3 out of 20. This is a great accomplishment because then they get to do it again the next year. Sometimes I wish my team could be in a relegation battle because the quality of play is so much better than MLS, and there’s a lot of danger in it. I mean, when some idiot from MLS asks me about “quality of play” all I have to do is point to Swansea vs. Hull in the TV guide and that’s really enough.
By the way, one of the reasons MLS sucks is because it doesn’t have this–if some American players could be in this sort of battle then it would be good for our National team because then they could get used to that style of play and be used to winning 20% of the games. That’s success, my friend! Just last year Sunderland won 9 out of 38 games (23%) and the fans partied like they won the World Cup. But my own team the Chicago Fire won 7 out of 34 (21%) and for some reason the fans didn’t enjoy it. Dumb-asses. I’m pretty sure that if MLS had relegation, San Jose’s fans would have celebrated for weeks last season because they finished only 4th worst.
There’s even lots of EPL drama in which team can qualify for “Europe.” This is a big goal all season long because it means that next year you can play in European tournament games in the middle of the week in which you will rest all your best players for the upcoming EPL game. And their fans really pull for this to happen so then they can chuckle at Europa League teams while they stay away from the ground on match day.
Watching EPL games on TV, you can really feel how great the fans are. Sometimes we pretend to be there–at a real soccer game in a cool stadium! We stand up, chant and yell, just like in England. We like to make fun of this other friend of mine who goes to a stadium to watch the MLS team. He keeps saying how much fun he’s having, but we snicker because we know the quality of play is not as good as the Premier League!
Some dork guy I know from work always wants to talk about which teams in MLS will make the playoffs and then which of those can win MLS Cup, but I just smirk because that’s so chaotic and disorganized. This thing where any team can win the league any year, that’s ridiculous. It’s so American, or socialist. I forget which. Year in and year out here should only be 2-3 teams that could possibly win the league. Leagues in which different teams win the championship is a very American-sports thing, and we all know that doesn’t work with fans. I think if like New York or LA won every year, and Colorado and Dallas were just content with surviving relegation, then those teams’ fans would be much more excited and positive about things. Expectations, guys!
I think it’s obvious that MLS should put all the best players on only 2-3 teams to improve the quality of play, and also for international club games, just like in England, Spain, Italy and Germany. Like in England it makes sense–you have royalty and peasantry. Each team’s fans know their place. (Leicester forgot but they remembered this year). And if your team has a good player then the rule is he gets to leave and go to one of the top 5 teams to compete for time with 30 other players like that. I’m pretty sure it’s a rule, and it’s only right. It doesn’t make sense that a team outside the top 5 can keep good players. But another rule is that if one of those players then doesn’t work out with the top-5 team then they get to go to Sunderland, Stoke etc. Those teams are filled with them.
So I think it’s clear that MLS is worthless compared to the EPL. It’s sort of like my policy that I only date movie stars–I have standards.
That’s such a deadspin comment, It’s a nice wake up laugh
Great comment Alex. Thanks! lmao
Yes – MLS players making a mean salary of $110,000. a year aren’t as good as Premier League players making a mean salary of $60,000 a week.
“I think it’s obvious that MLS should put all the best players on only 2-3 teams to improve the quality of play, and also for international club games,”
No, then we’d end up with just another predictable league where the same teams win every year. Meanwhile fans of other clubs would just drift away.
“So I think it’s clear that MLS is worthless compared to the EPL. It’s sort of like my policy that I only date movie stars–I have standards.”
I followed my lower division team in England week in, week out for 16 years before I left the UK and no interest in First Division/Premier League Football, so I guess I have lower standards.
Hurry up and watch as much as you can before Brexit, when EU players will be come subject to the same foreign player rules as non-EU players today.
Sorry, I didn’t notice you were a Fire Fan. Now I understand your pov. My deepest sympathies.
Stefan, can you let me know which broadcast are included in your numbers. Are you comparing ESPN, Univision and Fox to NBCSN and NBC? Are you including all the matches shown simultaneously on a Saturday? Are you including midweek games? Why are you using November and December as a basis when only 9 MLS games were shown.
Univision should not be included in the figures. The games are not advertised in the English media, they’re broadcast in Spanish and are basically a lead in to Liga MX.
FS1 and ESPN should be compared to NBCSN, NBC to the couple of games broadcast on Fox, the NYCFC/Galaxy regional specific games got 1 million viewers between them and the dog of the MLS Cup Final 1.5 million.
And take a look at Canada where the number of viewers, even for some of the all-US matches, is often higher and the MLS Cup final was one of the top ten sports broadcasts of the year.
All 2016 MLS national TV broadcasts were included in the research (including English-language and Spanish-language). That includes ESPN, ESPN2, FOX, FS1, FS2, FOX Deportes, Univision, Univision Deportes and UniMas.
I guess I have a few thoughts that weren’t touched upon.
1. August viewership plumetted thanks to the Summer Olympics on NBC Universal, which includes an abundance of channels that aren’t FOX related, ESPN related, or Univision related.
2. Part of the reason viewership increased in June and July was because of clever tv scheduling. Some MLS games were scheduled immediately after a Euro game on ESPN or a Copa game on FOX. Very clever.
I’m not saying that this takes away from the correlation of other football leagues taking away views, but I will claim that 2016 is not a year that can really prove that correlation. The Olympics will always take away viewers. COPA on FOX and EURO on ESPN and then the MLS during prime time is a lot of soccer for the average American. Like, seriously. Then, we have meaningless international games for the International Champions Cup and the MLS All Star Game. Jeez, I’d be sick of MLS soccer. No wonder everyone stopped watching once the Olympics were on. What a breath of fresh air
While I love waking up early on the weekends and watching EPL games, I also would like to follow the MLS. It’s what,s here, it’s growing and slowly getting more competitive. Big problem; I want to be a fan but even though I spend $100 a month for Comcast cable, only a fraction of the MlS games played are aired on English speaking channels that are accessible. Most are aired on Spanish speaking channels that I don’t even get without paying even more. The other weekend five MLS games were played and only one was televised on Comcast. Hell, the US national team playing against Panama wasn’t even on! It appears US Soccer and the MLS are only interested in growing in the Spanish speaking market. I no longer plan on watching ANY MLS games because I’m so frequently disappointed. I one happens to be on while I’m planted on couch, then I’ll probably watch it. And yes, a relegation league would make the MLS much more interesting.