Saturday’s broadcast of San Jose Earthquakes against LA Galaxy on Univision and Univision Deportes is the most-watched MLS game of the 2017 season thus far on US television.
A total of 692,000 viewers tuned in to watch the game on the over-the-air Univision network, which combined with the 202,000 people who watched the match simulcast on Univision Deportes, equals a total of 894,000 viewers for the California Clásico.
LA Galaxy won the match 4-2 in an exciting climax, which included a brace by Giovani dos Santos.
The 894,000 viewers for the San Jose-Galaxy game on Univision and Univision Deportes was significantly more than the 554,000 people who watched the Seattle-Portland derby on the FOX network and FOX Deportes combined. The 894,000 viewing audience for Quakes-Galaxy also trumped the 509,000 who watched the LA Galaxy-Dallas game on the opening weekend of the MLS season on Univision and Univision Deportes.
While the 894k number is the best this season, it’s less than the 1 million who watched the San Jose-LA Galaxy game last June. Having said that, the June 2016 California Clásico was preceded by the Copa America Centenario third-place final featuring USA vs. Colombia on Univision.
The Quakes-Galaxy match last weekend also outperformed both the 2015 and 2016 MLS Cup Finals on UniMas. It was also the top MLS match on Univision networks since last June, when the same two teams faced off.
SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming
The viewing numbers for MLS’ Saturday games featuring San Jose-LA Galaxy and Seattle-Portland will go a long way to boosting the league’s TV ratings this season. Plus, it’s a big boost for MLS games on Univision, which have been negatively impacted by a fluctuating schedule that makes it difficult for soccer fans to know when games are going to be shown.
On top of the promising numbers, MLS will be thankful that the European and Mexican soccer seasons have come to a close, which will give MLS the rare opportunity to be featured against very little other soccer competition on the airwaves.
It’s also a great week for Univision as we reported yesterday that the Liga MX final second leg had 2.8 million viewers.
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