In the soccer TV ratings game, the United States kept it close with Mexico this international break as their matches kicked off back to back. The United States played first, drawing nearly 2.4 million viewers total and over 1 million from both the English language ESPN and Spanish language Univision broadcasts. Immediately following the United States’ match, Univision brought Mexico’s World Cup clinching game to an audience of 2.56 million viewers on its own.
The international break saw just one national broadcast of Major League Soccer as FC Dallas hosted the New York Red Bulls. The game was watched by 291,000 viewers, up 30% from UniMás’ previous broadcast featuring FC Dallas against their Texan rivals Houston Dynamo. It is worth noting, however, that the Texas Derby match was played on a Wednesday.
Finally, the National Women’s Soccer League has seen three consecutive weeks of matches with viewership higher than 100,000 for the first time. Lifetime has averaged exactly 110,000 viewers for its previous three broadcasts stretching from August 19th to September 2nd. The league looks to have a great chance to continue its streak with the final three broadcasts of the season featuring multiple teams in the top-half of the table.
Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for August 29-September 4, 2017:
Rank | Date | Competition | Teams | TV1 | TV2 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 9/1/17 | CONCACAF WCQ | Mexico / Panama | FS2; 51000 | Univision; 2563000 | 2,614,000 |
2 | 9/1/17 | CONCACAF WCQ | USMNT / Costa Rica | ESPN; 1071000 | Univision; 1302000 | 2,373,000 |
3 | 9/3/17 | UEFA WCQ | Netherlands / Bulgaria | ESPN2; 373000 | ESPND; — | 373,000 |
4 | 9/3/17 | UEFA WCQ | France / Luxembourg | —; — | UniMás; 343000 | 343,000 |
5 | 9/2/17 | UEFA WCQ | Spain / Italy | —; — | FOXD; 316000 | 316,000 |
6 | 9/2/17 | MLS | FC Dallas / New York Red Bulls | UniMás; 221000 | UDN; 70000 | 291,000 |
7 | 8/30/17 | Copa MX | Cruz Azul / Tigres | —; — | UDN; 283000 | 283,000 |
8 | 8/29/17 | Copa MX | Chivas / Santos | —; — | UDN; 269000 | 269,000 |
9 | 8/30/17 | Copa MX | Atlas / América | —; — | UDN; 257000 | 257,000 |
10 | 9/1/17 | UEFA WCQ | Czech Republic / Germany | —; — | UniMás; 174000 | 174,000 |
11 | 8/31/17 | CONMEBOL WCQ | Brazil / Ecuador | beIN; 161000 | —; — | 161,000 |
12 | 9/3/17 | UEFA WCQ | Hungary / Portugal | —; — | FOXD; 153000 | 153,000 |
13 | 9/2/17 | NWSL | Thorns / Spirit | Lifetime; 108000 | —; — | 108,000 |
14 | 9/4/17 | UEFA WCQ | England / Slovakia | —; — | UDN; 70000 | 70,000 |
15 | 8/30/17 | Copa MX | Toluca / Ud. Guadalajara | —; — | Gala; 58000 | 58,000 |
16 | 8/31/17 | UEFA WCQ | Bulgaria / Sweden | —; — | UDN; 24000 | 24,000 |
Average MLS viewing audiences on US TV:
League | Overall* | ESPN | ESPN2 | FOX | FS1 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017 MLS | 255,279 (52) | 294,158 (19) | 220,000 (5) | 440,750 (4) | 189,227** (22) |
2016 MLS | 257,683 (63) | 290,179 (28) | 201,500 (4) | 658,000 (5) | 154,346 (26) |
2017 NWSL | 96,789 (19) | ||||
2017 USL | 19,000 (2) | *English-Only | |||
**One game missing |
League averages this season:
League | Viewers |
---|---|
EPL | 587,588 |
LMX | 480,419 |
MLS | 255,279 |
NWSL | 96,789 |
BuLi | 89,800 |
SEE MORE: Access our archives of US TV ratings for soccer.
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