Most-watched soccer games for February 26 to March 4, 2019

MLS’s opening weekend viewership dropped 7% compared to last season with last weekend’s five nationally broadcast games collectively averaging just 296,600 viewers, down from 318,250 for four national broadcasts to open the 2018 season.

Univision saw the largest drop in viewership, with their first MLS broadcast of 2019 down over 24% from 2018. With the increase of four to five nationally-televised games, total viewership for the opening weekend saw a 16.5% increase helped by the addition of another broadcast on ESPN Sunday night.

A disappointing SheBelieves Cup for the United States Women’s National Team on the field was still a ratings success for FOX with Saturday’s match against England drawing 758,000 viewers. The United States’ three matches in the tournament averaged 439,667 viewers on FOX and FS1, up 28% from 343,333 for the 2018 edition of the tournament that saw broadcasts split between ESPN2 and FS1.

NBCSN’s Saturday morning kickoff between Manchester United and Southampton was the most-watched Saturday Premier League match on NBCSN in 12 months, averaging 591,000 viewers. Sunday’s Merseyside Derby drew 992,000 viewers to NBCSN and Telemundo, making it the most-watched Premier League match on cable this season that does not feature a club from Manchester.

Rank	Date	Competition	Teams	TV1	Total
1	3/2	Liga MX Clausura	Chivas / Monterrey	Univision: 1051000	1,051,000
2	3/3	Premier League	Everton / Liverpool	NBCSN: 730000 / Telemundo: 262000	992,000
3	3/2	SheBelieves Cup	USWNT / England	FOX: 758000	758,000
4	3/2	Premier League	Man Utd / Southampton	NBCSN: 591000 / Unvso: 84000	675,000
5	3/3	Liga MX Clausura	Toluca / Veracruz	Univision: 537000	537,000
6	3/2	Premier League	West Ham / Newcastle	NBCSN: 419000 / Unvso: 80000	499,000
7	3/3	Premier League	Fulham / Chelsea	NBCSN: 447000 / Unvso: 47000	494,000
8	3/2	Premier League	Spurs / Arsenal	NBCSN: 417000 / Unvso: 63000	480,000
9	3/1	Liga MX Clausura	Morelia / Club América	UDN: 453000	453,000
10	3/3	MLS	DC United / Atlanta United	ESPN: 394000	394,000
11	3/3	MLS	Los Angeles FC / Sporting KC	ESPN: 361000	361,000
12	3/2	MLS	Orlando City SC / New York City FC	Univision: 355000	355,000
13	2/27	Premier League	Chelsea / Spurs	NBCSN: 281000 / Unvso: 34000	315,000
14	2/27	SheBelieves Cup	USWNT / Japan	FS1: 283000	283,000
15	3/2	Liga MX Clausura	Cruz Azul / Necaxa	UDN: 281000	281,000
16	3/3	Liga MX Clausura	Lobos / Pumas	UDN: 257000	257,000
17	3/2	La Liga	Real Madrid / Barcelona	beIN: 236000	236,000
18	3/2	MLS	Seattle Sounders / FC Cincinnati	FS1: 199000	199,000
19	3/2	MLS	Los Angeles Galaxy / Chicago Fire	FS1: 174000	174,000
20	2/28	CCL RO16	Toluca / Sporting KC	UDN: 166000	166,000
21	3/3	Premier League	Watford / Leicester City	NBCSN: 164000	164,000
22	3/4	Liga MX Clausura	Puebla / Querétaro	UDN: 147000	147,000
23	2/26	Premier League	Newcastle / Burnley	NBCSN: 142000	142,000
24	2/28	CCL RO16	Atlanta United / Herediano	UDN: 110000	110,000
25	3/1	Bundesliga	Augsburg / Dortmund	UDN: 101000	101,000
26	3/2	Liga MX Clausura	León / Santos	UDN: 38000	38,000
27	3/3	Bundesliga	Stuttgart / Hannover	UDN: 25000	25,000
28	3/1	Liga MX Femenil	Cruz Azul / Lobos	UDN: 17000	17,000
29	3/2	Bundesliga	Schalke / Düsseldorf	UDN: 14000	14,000