The Bundesliga’s opening round matchup between Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig averaged 395,000 viewers on the FOX broadcast network making it the most-watched Bundesliga match on an English-language network since November 19, 2016 when Borussia Dortmund faced Bayern Munich, also on FOX.
Manchester City’s 2-1 victory over Newcastle was watched by 870,000 viewers on NBC, down slightly from 876,000 for NBC’s corresponding matchup last season but up from 831,000 viewers for Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Brighton one week earlier. Through the first four weeks of the season, the Premier League on NBC is averaging 892,000 viewers.
ESPN’s August 26th MLS broadcast featuring Orlando City and Atlanta United drew 305,000 viewers, making it the most-watched regular season match on cable since May 5 when ESPN broadcast the Hudson River Derby to 334,000 average viewers.
FOX Sports 1 continues to struggle with their MLS broadcasts, with last Sunday’s game between Wayne Rooney’s DC United and the popular Atlanta United only drawing 155,000 viewers to the network. MLS broadcasts on FS1 have so far failed to break the 300,000-viewer mark in the 2018 season. FS1 accomplished this feat three times last season.
Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for August 22-September 2, 2018:
Rank | Date | Competition | Teams | TV1 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 8/25 | Liga MX | América / Pumas | Univision: 600000 / UDN: 332000 | 932,000 |
2 | 9/1 | Premier League | Man City / Newcastle | NBC: 870000 / Unvso: | 870,000 |
3 | 8/25 | Premier League | Liverpool / Brighton | NBC: 831000 / Unvso: 35000 | 866,000 |
4 | 9/1 | Liga MX | Chivas / Pachuca | Univision: 865000 / —: — | 865,000 |
5 | 8/26 | Premier League | Newcastle / Chelsea | NBCSN: 535000 / Telemundo: 277000 | 812,000 |
6 | 8/25 | Premier League | Arsenal / West Ham | NBCSN: 537000 / Unvso: 70000 | 607,000 |
7 | 9/1 | Liga MX | Tigres / Atlas | Univision: 571000 / —: — | 571,000 |
8 | 8/26 | Liga MX | Santos / Cruz Azul | —: — / UDN: 564000 | 564,000 |
9 | 8/24 | Liga MX | Atlas / Chivas | UniMás: 534000 / —: — | 534,000 |
10 | 8/25 | Liga MX | Necaxa / Tigres | Univision: 495000 / —: — | 495,000 |
11 | 9/2 | Premier League | Man Utd / Burnley | NBCSN: 495000 / Telemundo: | 495,000 |
12 | 8/26 | Bundesliga | Dortmund / Stuttgart | FOX: 395000 / UDN: 33000 | 428,000 |
13 | 9/2 | Liga MX | Toluca / Santos | Univision: 425000 / —: — | 425,000 |
14 | 8/27 | Premier League | Man Utd / Spurs | NBCSN: 395000 / Unvso: 17000 | 412,000 |
15 | 8/22 | Liga MX | León / América | UniMás: 396000 / —: — | 396,000 |
16 | 8/25 | Premier League | Wolves / Man City | NBCSN: 334000 / Unvso: 19000 | 353,000 |
17 | 9/1 | Premier League | Chelsea / Bournemouth | NBCSN: 353000 / Unvso: | 353,000 |
18 | 9/1 | Premier League | Leicetser City / Liverpool | NBCSN: 351000 / Unvso: | 351,000 |
19 | 9/2 | Premier League | Cardiff / Arsenal | NBCSN: 349000 / —: — | 349,000 |
20 | 8/24 | MLS | Orlando City SC / Atlanta United | ESPN: 305000 / ESPND: — | 305,000 |
21 | 9/1 | Liga MX | Cruz Azul / Veracruz | —: — / UDN: 303000 | 303,000 |
22 | 9/2 | Liga MX | Lobos / América | —: — / UDN: 284000 | 284,000 |
23 | 8/31 | Liga MX | Puebla / Monterrey | —: — / UDN: 276000 | 276,000 |
24 | 8/22 | Liga MX | Cruz Azul / Toluca | —: — / UDN: 273000 | 273,000 |
25 | 8/24 | MLS | Los Angeles Galaxy / Los Angeles FC | ESPN: 257000 / ESPND: — | 257,000 |
26 | 8/25 | Liga MX | Pachuca / Puebla | —: — / UDN: 249000 | 249,000 |
27 | 8/23 | MLS | Houston Dynamo / FC Dallas | UniMás: 244000 / UDN: — | 244,000 |
28 | 8/31 | Int’l Friendly (W) | USWNT / Chile | ESPN2: 236000 / —: — | 236,000 |
29 | 8/26 | MLS | Portland Timbers / Seattle Sounders | FS1: 235000 / FOXD: — | 235,000 |
30 | 8/26 | Premier League | Watford / Crystal Palace | NBCSN: 232000 / —: — | 232,000 |
31 | 8/26 | Liga MX | Toluca / León | —: — / UDN: 229000 | 229,000 |
32 | 8/31 | Liga MX | Morelia / Querétaro | —: — / UDN: 225000 | 225,000 |
33 | 8/25 | Serie A | Juventus / Lazio | ESPN2: 210000 / ESPND: — | 210,000 |
34 | 9/1 | MLS | Seattle Sounders / Sporting Kansas City | UniMás: 102000 / UDN: 94000 | 196,000 |
35 | 8/22 | Liga MX | Tigres / Veracruz | —: — / UDN: 190000 | 190,000 |
36 | 8/25 | Liga MX | Monterrey / Morelia | FS2: — / FOXD: 171000 | 171,000 |
37 | 8/26 | MLS | New York Red Bulls / DC United | FS1: 168000 / FOXD: — | 168,000 |
38 | 9/2 | MLS | DC United / Atlanta United | FS1: 155000 / FOXD: — | 155,000 |
39 | 8/22 | UEFA Champions League | Ajax / Dynamo Kyiv | TNT: 109000 / UDN: ? | 109,000 |
40 | 8/22 | Liga MX | Tijuana / Santos | FS1: ? / FOXD: 104000 | 104,000 |
41 | 8/24 | Bundesliga | Bayern / Hoffenheim | FS1: 97000 / FOXD: — | 97,000 |
42 | 8/29 | UEFA Champions League | PSV Eindhoven / BATE Borisov | —: — / UDN: 88000 | 88,000 |
43 | 8/28 | UEFA Champions League | Dynamo Kyiv / Ajax | TNT: ? / UDN: 65000 | 65,000 |
44 | 8/22 | Liga MX | Lobos / Monterrey | —: — / Gala: 59000 | 59,000 |
45 | 9/1 | Liga MX | León / Pumas | —: — / Gala: 53000 | 53,000 |
46 | 9/1 | Bundesliga | Stuttgart / Bayern | FS2: ? / UDN: 51000 | 51,000 |
47 | 9/1 | Bundesliga | Leverkusen / Wolfsburg | FS1: ? / UDN: 38000 | 38,000 |
48 | 8/25 | Bundesliga | Wolfsburg / Schalke | FS1: — / UDN: 33000 | 33,000 |
49 | 8/30 | CONCACAF League | Walter Ferreti / Tauro | —: — / UDN: 31000 | 31,000 |
50 | 8/30 | CONCACAF League | Portmore United / Motagua | —: — / UDN: 29000 | 29,000 |
51 | 8/25 | Bundesliga | Mönchengladbach / Leverkusen | FS1: — / UDN: 18000 | 18,000 |
52 | 8/31 | Bundesliga | Hannover / Dortmund | FS1: ? / UDN: 17000 | 17,000 |
53 | 8/29 | UEFA Champions League | PAOK / Benfica | TNT: ? / Gala: 12000 | 12,000 |
54 | 8/22 | UEFA Champions League | Young Boys / Dinamo Zagreb | —: — / Gala: 11000 | 11,000 |
55 | 8/28 | UEFA Champions League | Dinamo Zagreb / Young Boys | —: — / Gala: 9000 | 9,000 |
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