Saturday afternoon’s Premier League match between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur posted 1.16 million viewers on the NBC broadcast network. This number ties the match between Hull City and Manchester United in the opening round of fixtures as the second most watched Premier League match on NBC this season. This also marks the fourth consecutive week that a Premier League match has drawn more than 1 million viewers.
It was another huge weekend for Liga MX as the two most popular clubs in Mexico, Club América and Chivas de Guadalajara, featured on the Univision network Saturday night. Over 1.7 million people watched as Club América fell to Tigres by a score of 4-2. Following that match, 1.55 million saw Chivas lose to the now league leaders Club Tijuana. Both clubs will not feature on the Univision network like this again until February 11th with the Súper Clásico occurring the following week on February 18.
The Bundesliga returned from its annual winter break last Friday on FOX Sports 1 in what was the least watched Friday night fixture on the network since Köln defeated Freiburg 3-0 on September 16. Viewership unsurprisingly peaked on Sunday when Bayer Leverkusen, with Mexican International Javier Hernández took on a Hertha Berlin side that featured US International John Brooks. FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes combined to produce 103,000 viewers for the match.
Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for January 17-23, 2017:
| Rank | Home | Away | Competition | Date | TV1 | TV2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tigres | América | Liga MX | 1/21/17 | Univision; 973000 | UDN; 747000 | 1,720,000 |
| 2 | Chivas | Tijuana | Liga MX | 1/21/17 | Univision; 868000 | UDN; 682000 | 1,550,000 |
| 3 | Man City | Spurs | Premier League | 1/21/17 | NBC; 1160000 | Unvso; 93000 | 1,253,000 |
| 4 | Toluca | Chiapas | Liga MX | 1/22/17 | Univision; 574000 | —; — | 574,000 |
| 5 | Cruz Azul | Monterrey | Liga MX | 1/21/17 | —; — | UDN; 534000 | 534,000 |
| 6 | Stoke City | Man Utd | Premier League | 1/21/17 | NBCSN; 487000 | Unvso; 41000 | 528,000 |
| 7 | Chelsea | Hull City | Premier League | 1/22/17 | NBCSN; 516000 | —; — | 516,000 |
| 8 | Eibar | Barcelona | La Liga | 1/22/17 | beIN; 104000 | beIE; 391000 | 495,000 |
| 9 | Arsenal | Burnley | Premier League | 1/22/17 | NBCSN; 406000 | Unvso; 55000 | 461,000 |
| 10 | América | Santos | Copa MX | 1/18/17 | —; — | UDN; 401000 | 401,000 |
| 11 | Real Madrid | Malaga | La LIga | 1/21/17 | beIN; 111000 | beIE; 215000 | 326,000 |
| 12 | Real Madrid | Celta Vigo | Copa del Rey | 1/18/17 | beIN; 45000 | beIE; 271000 | 316,000 |
| 13 | Real Sociedad | Barcelona | Copa del Rey | 1/19/17 | beIN; 81000 | beIE; 217000 | 298,000 |
| 14 | Liverpool | Swansea City | Premier League | 1/21/17 | NBCSN; 255000 | Unvso; 38000 | 293,000 |
| 15 | Puebla | Querétaro | Liga MX | 1/22/17 | —; — | UDN; 281000 | 281,000 |
| 16 | Querétaro | Cruz Azul | Copa MX | 1/18/17 | —; — | Gala; 208000 | 208,000 |
| 17 | León | Pumas | Liga MX | 1/21/17 | —; — | Gala; 173000 | 173,000 |
| 18 | Panama | Honduras | Copa Centroamericana | 1/17/17 | —; — | UDN; 144000 | 144,000 |
| 19 | Panama | El Salvador | Copa Centroamericana | 1/20/17 | —; — | UDN; 138000 | 138,000 |
| 20 | Honduras | Costa Rica | Copa Centroamericana | 1/20/17 | —; — | UDN; 137000 | 137,000 |
| 21 | Villarreal | Valencia | La Liga | 1/21/17 | —; — | beIE; 134000 | 134,000 |
| 22 | Plymouth | Liverpool | FA Cup | 1/18/17 | FS1; 111000 | FOXD; 20000 | 131,000 |
| 23 | Real Betis | Sporting | La Liga | 1/22/17 | —; — | beIE; 131000 | 131,000 |
| 24 | Panama | Costa Rica | Copa Centroamericana | 1/22/17 | —; — | UDN; 130000 | 130,000 |
| 25 | Athletic | Atletico Madrid | La Liga | 1/22/17 | —; — | beIE; 121000 | 121,000 |
| 26 | Southampton | Leicester City | Premier League | 1/22/17 | NBCSN; 121000 | —; — | 121,000 |
| 27 | León | Morelia | Copa MX | 1/18/17 | —; — | UDN; 105000 | 105,000 |
| 28 | Leverkusen | Hertha | Bundesliga | 1/22/17 | FS1; 24000 | FOXD; 79000 | 103,000 |
| 29 | El Salvador | Nicaragua | Copa Centroamericana | 1/22/17 | —; — | UDN; 96000 | 96,000 |
| 30 | Costa Rica | Nicaragua | Copa Centroamericana | 1/17/17 | —; — | UDN; 89000 | 89,000 |
| 31 | Atlético Madrid | Eibar | Copa del Rey | 1/19/17 | beIN; 24000 | beIE; 64000 | 88,000 |
| 32 | Alaves | Leganes | La Liga | 1/21/17 | —; — | beIE; 79000 | 79,000 |
| 33 | Crystal Palace | Everton | Premier League | 1/21/17 | CNBC; 56000 | —; — | 56,000 |
| 34 | El Salvador | Belize | Copa Centroamericana | 1/17/17 | —; — | UDN; 54000 | 54,000 |
| 35 | Freiburg | Bayern | Bundesliga | 1/20/17 | FS1; 54000 | —; — | 54,000 |
| 36 | Bremen | Dortmund | Bundesliga | 1/21/17 | FS1; 49000 | —; — | 49,000 |
| 37 | Leipzig | Frankfurt | Bundesliga | 1/21/17 | FS2; 13000 | FOXD; 34000 | 47,000 |
| 38 | Lincoln City | Ipswich Town | FA Cup | 1/17/17 | FS1; 35000 | FOXD; 6000 | 41,000 |
| 39 | Milan | Napoli | Serie A | 1/21/17 | beIN; 40000 | —; — | 40,000 |
| 40 | Belize | Honduras | Copa Centroamericana | 1/22/17 | —; — | UDN; 40000 | 40,000 |
| 41 | Porto | Rio Ave | Primeira Liga | 1/21/17 | —; — | UDN; 37000 | 37,000 |
| 42 | Nicaragua | Belize | Copa Centroamericana | 1/20/17 | —; — | UDN; 34000 | 34,000 |
| 43 | Alcorcón | Alavés | Copa del Rey | 1/18/17 | beIN; 7000 | beIE; 24000 | 31,000 |
| 44 | Mainz | Köln | Bundesliga | 1/22/17 | FS2; 13000 | FOXD; 15000 | 28,000 |
| 45 | Morocco | Togo | Africa Cup of Nations | 1/20/17 | beIN; 25000 | —; — | 25,000 |
| 46 | Mali | Egypt | Africa Cup of Nations | 1/17/17 | beIN; 23000 | —; — | 23,000 |
| 47 | Gabon | Burkina Faso | Africa Cup of Nations | 1/18/17 | beIN; 21000 | —; — | 21,000 |
| 48 | Ghana | Uganda | Africa Cup of Nations | 1/17/17 | beIN; 20000 | —; — | 20,000 |
| 49 | Augsburg | Hoffenheim | Bundesliga | 1/21/17 | FS2; 3000 | FOXD; 15000 | 18,000 |
| 50 | Osasuna | Sevilla | La Liga | 1/22/17 | —; — | beIE; 18000 | 18,000 |
| 51 | Las Palmas | Deportivo | La Liga | 1/20/17 | —; — | beIE; 17000 | 17,000 |
| 52 | Palermo | Inter Milan | Serie A | 1/22/17 | beIN; 17000 | —; — | 17,000 |
| 53 | Marítimo | Sporting CP | Primeira Liga | 1/21/17 | —; — | UDN; 13000 | 13,000 |
| 54 | Côte d’Ivoire | Congo DR | Africa Cup of Nations | 1/20/17 | beIN; 12000 | —; — | 12,000 |
| 55 | Algeria | Tunisia | Africa Cup of Nations | 1/19/17 | beIN; 10000 | —; — | 10,000 |
| 56 | Juventus | Lazio | Serie A | 1/22/17 | beIN; 10000 | —; — | 10,000 |
| 57 | Zimbabwe | Tunisia | Africa Cup of Nations | 1/23/17 | beIN; 8000 | —; — | 8,000 |
Average viewing audiences for soccer leagues on US TV:
| League | Average |
|---|---|
| Liga MX | 836,750 |
| Premier League | 467,975 |
| MLS | 292,365 |
| La Liga | 149,110 |
| NWSL | 88,500 |
| Bundesliga | 78,182 |
| Primeira Liga | 31,842 |
| Serie A | 25,792 |
| Championship | 15,688 |
| Ligue 1 | 14,389 |
| NASL | 7,000 |
SEE MORE: Access our archives of US TV ratings for soccer.
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FanaticoSocceroo
January 26, 2017 at 1:19 pm
Why has the Bundesliga such low numbers on Fox?
Could it be that there is an age gap between Bundesliga and Premier League? I just checked youtube and the FoxSports channel showing Bundesliga highlights has much more views than the NBCSN channel that shows EPL highlights. And those channels can only be watched from US.
So, older people still watching their games on TV while youger audiences watching somewhere else. And thats the result of the ratings?
LaLiga has also weak numbers, which is unusual when you have the best league, the biggest superstars in Messi and Ronaldo and you have a large latino community in the US.
Frankly I dont understand these numbers at all. Well, except the very good LigaMX numbers. They make sense when you have a lot of people that moved from Mexico.
Collin Werner
January 27, 2017 at 5:43 pm
I think the biggest reason that Bundesliga numbers remain low on American television is just the fact that it is still new to American television. Last season, the Bundesliga’s first on FOX, was also the first time that the Bundesliga became accessible to most cable customers in the United States. The Premier League has been accessible to Americans in some form or another for years and years whereas the Bundesliga had virtually no presence on US television since Soccer Made in Germany ended its run on PBS in 1988.
francis
January 27, 2017 at 8:19 pm
To be fair Fox Soccer Channel, GOLTV and ESPN Deportes have all shown Bundesliga over the last decade or so . Granted those channels did not have wide reach, but the league was not totally invisible. It’s a fantastic league to watch – a bit like the 1990’s EPL – hopefully younger folks who aren’t as locked in to the Prem & La Liga will start to tune in