Last Saturday afternoon’s London Derby between Spurs and Chelsea averaged 824,000 views on the NBC broadcast network, the most for a Premier League match on NBC since September 1. The Premier League has seen more than a 13% drop in viewership in October and November when compared to the first two months of the season, shedding over 100,000 average viewers per match.
Mexico’s two matches against Argentina were unsurprisingly the two most-watched matches of the November international break with both matches averaging 879,000 viewers across UniMás and Univision Deportes. The United States’ away trip to England and Italy averaged just 363,000 viewers on ESPN2, FOX Sports 1 and UniMás with the match against England grabbing the most viewers at 455,000.
The MLS Conference Finals first leg matches were the least watched since 2015 with a 15% drop in viewership compared to last season. ESPN’s broadcast accounted for most of that with Atlanta United’s 3-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls earning 85,000 fewer viewers than the Columbus Crew and Toronto FC’s 0-0 draw to open the Conference Finals in 2017.
| Rank | Date | Competition | Teams | TV1 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11/24 | Liga MX Apertura | Chivas / Tigres | Univision: 604000 / UDN: 299000 | 903,000 |
| 2 | 11/24 | Premier League | Spurs / Chelsea | NBC: 824000 / Unvso: 75000 | 899,000 |
| 3 | 11/16 | Int’l Friendly | Argentina / Mexico | UniMás: 512000 / UDN: 367000 | 879,000 |
| 4 | 11/20 | Int’l Friendly | Argentina / Mexico | UniMás: 474000 / UDN: 405000 | 879,000 |
| 5 | 11/24 | Liga MX Apertura | Club América / Veracruz | Univision: 562000 / UDN: 283000 | 845,000 |
| 6 | 11/25 | Liga MX Apertura | Pumas / Santos | Univision/UDN: 524000 | 524,000 |
| 7 | 11/15 | Int’l Friendly | England / USMNT | ESPN2: 310000 / UniMás: 145000 | 455,000 |
| 8 | 11/24 | Premier League | West Ham / Man City | NBCSN: 348000 / Unvso: 49000 | 397,000 |
| 9 | 11/18 | UEFA Nations League | England / Croatia | ESPN2: 210000 / UDN: 126000 | 336,000 |
| 10 | 11/25 | MLS Eastern Championship | Atlanta United / New York Red Bulls | ESPN: 334000 | 334,000 |
| 11 | 11/25 | Premier League | Bournemouth / Arsenal | NBCSN: 262000 / Unvso: 26000 | 288,000 |
| 12 | 11/23 | Liga MX Apertura | Morelia / Cruz Azul | UDN: 281000 | 281,000 |
| 13 | 11/18 | UEFA Nations League | Switzerland / Belgium | UniMás/UDN: 279000 | 279,000 |
| 14 | 11/20 | Int’l Friendly | Italy / USMNT | FS1: 208000 / UniMás: 63000 | 271,000 |
| 15 | 11/17 | UEFA Nations League | Italy / Portugal | UniMás: 266000 | 266,000 |
| 16 | 11/24 | Copa Libertadores | River Plate / Boca Juniors (postponed) | FOX Deportes: 265000 | 265,000 |
| 17 | 11/25 | Premier League | Wolves / Huddersfield | NBCSN: 265000 | 265,000 |
| 18 | 11/23 | Liga MX Apertura | Puebla / Tijuana | UDN: 243000 | 243,000 |
| 19 | 11/25 | MLS Western Championship | Portland Timbers / Sporting Kansas City | FS1: 237000 | 237,000 |
| 20 | 11/16 | UEFA Nations League | Netherlands / France | UniMás: 85000 / UDN: 121000 | 206,000 |
| 21 | 11/24 | Liga MX Apertura | Querétaro / Necaxa | UDN: 175000 | 175,000 |
| 22 | 11/26 | Premier League | Burnley / Newcastle | NBCSN: 130000 | 130,000 |
| 23 | 11/25 | Liga MX Apertura | Lobos / Toluca | UDN: 128000 | 128,000 |
| 24 | 11/19 | UEFA Nations League | Germany / Netherlands | UniMás/UDN: 123000 | 123,000 |
| 25 | 11/24 | Bundesliga | Bayern / Düsseldorf | UniMás: 117000 | 117,000 |
| 26 | 11/24 | Liga MX Apertura | Monterrey / Atlas | FOXD: 106000 | 106,000 |
| 27 | 11/18 | UEFA Nations League | Northern Ireland / Austria | UDN: 101000 | 101,000 |
| 28 | 11/17 | UEFA Nations League | Turkey / Sweden | UDN: 80000 | 80,000 |
| 29 | 11/24 | Liga MX Apertura | Pachuca / León | Gala: 77000 | 77,000 |
| 30 | 11/20 | Int’l Friendly | France / Uruguay | Gala: 66000 | 66,000 |
| 31 | 11/17 | CONCACAF Nations League Q | Nicaragua / Haiti | UDN: 48000 | 48,000 |
| 32 | 11/15 | UEFA Nations League | Croatia / Spain | Gala: 43000 | 43,000 |
| 33 | 11/25 | Bundesliga | Freiburg / Bremen | UDN: 26000 | 26,000 |
| 34 | 11/13 | Int’l Friendly (W) | Scotland / USWNT | UDN: 24000 | 24,000 |
| 35 | 11/17 | UEFA Nations League | Serbia / Montenegro | UDN: 23000 | 23,000 |
| 36 | 11/24 | Bundesliga | Schalke / Nürnberg | UDN: 20000 | 20,000 |
SEE MORE: Access our archives of US TV ratings for soccer.
200+ Channels With Sports & News
- Starting price: $33/mo. for fubo Latino Package
- Watch Premier League, World Cup, Euro 2024 & more
- Includes NBC, USA, FOX, ESPN, CBSSN & more
Live & On Demand TV Streaming
- Price: $69.99/mo. for Entertainment package
- Watch World Cup, Euro 2024 & MLS
- Includes ESPN, ESPN2, FS1 + local channels
Many Sports & ESPN Originals
- Price: $6.99/mo. (or get ESPN+, Hulu & Disney+ for $13.99/mo.)
- Features Bundesliga, LaLiga, Championship, & more
- Also includes daily ESPN FC news & highlights show
2,000+ soccer games per year
- Price: $4.99/mo
- Features Champions League, Serie A, Europa League & NWSL
- Includes CBS, Star Trek & CBS Sports HQ
175 Premier League Games & PL TV
- Starting price: $4.99/mo. for Peacock Premium
- Watch 175 exclusive EPL games per season
- Includes Premier League TV channel plus movies, TV shows & more
3 Comments
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
SOCCER TV SCHEDULES APP
 |
 |
STREAMING OFFERS
 Includes: Premier League + 84 Sports Channels | |
| 7-Day Free Trial | |
 Includes: Bundesliga & La Liga | |
| Sign Up | |
 Includes: Champions League & Serie A | |
| 7-Day Free Trial | |
 Includes: Premier League | |
| Sign Up | |
 Includes: 24+ channels that broadcast soccer | |
| 5-Day Free Trial | |
Larry Kern
December 2, 2018 at 11:01 am
I believe you’re correct Edwin. I think the NFL has had an effect on the numbers. Real football will always lose out to fake football (99% of the time it’s a foul if you even use your foot!)
Edwin
November 30, 2018 at 3:58 pm
What’s accounting for the EPL drop. I suspect it’s NFL season heating up judging by the timing of drops. But is there some downward or ceiling to EPL numbers. According the this article EPL numbers have declined sharply and plateaued since the record breaking 2015-16. This season NBC/NBCSN/CNBC are averaging 417k viewers per game the total average across cable channels NBC/NBCSN/CNBC/Telemundo/Universo is 299k.
http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2017/05/premier-league-ratings-down-least-watched-season-nbc/
https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2017/06/09/Media/EPL.aspx
http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2018/05/nhl-conference-final-ratings-mlb-premier-league/
Season
13-14- 438k
14-15- 479k
15-16-514k
16-17-423k
17-18-438k
Des
December 3, 2018 at 12:57 pm
15-16 season was most popular I think because of Leicester City winning the league and the excitement behind it. That’s just my thoughts though.