As the number of soccer games available to viewers in the United States continues to grow year over year, the space is becoming more competitive. There’s more choice now than there ever has been before.
But which networks and leagues are doing the greatest job at enticing viewers to tune into their broadcasts?
Looking at the viewing figures for last weekend, the winner by far was Univision with an average viewing audience of 2 million that tuned in to watch El Super Clasico between Club America and Chivas — the biggest club game on the annual soccer calendar in the US.
The audience was larger than viewership for Notre Dame football on NBC among all key demos, as well as Major League Baseball on ESPN.
SEE MORE: fuboTV adds DVR functionality for soccer fans in new version of legal streaming service.
Elsewhere, every single NBCSN broadcast of a live Premier League game was in the top 10. NBCSN also reported today that they achieved Total Day and primetime viewership records for the third quarter and the month of September, with viewership up 130% across the NBCSN network in the third quarter compared to Q3 2014.
Meanwhile near the bottom of the top 25, the Bundesliga continues to have issues to lure viewers. The numbers illustrate what a struggle the Bundesliga is having with TV viewing numbers especially when a Friday afternoon game from the Championship is watched by more people than a Bayern Munich game on a Saturday morning.
What interesting observations can you see in the data? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
| Pos. | Teams | No. of viewers | TV Network | Game time (ET) | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Club America vs. Chivas | 2,000,000 | Univision | 6-8pm | Saturday, 9/26 |
| 2 | Manchester United vs. Sunderland | 699,000 | NBCSN | 10am-Noon | Saturday, 9/26 |
| 3 | Monterrey vs. Monarcas | 540,000 | UDN | 8-10pm | Saturday, 9/26 |
| 4 | Newcastle vs, Chelsea | 534,000 | NBCSN | 12:30-2:30pm | Saturday, 9/26 |
| 5 | Spurs vs. Manchester City | 397,000 | NBCSN | 7:45-9:45am | Saturday, 9/26 |
| 6 | Watford vs. Crystal Palace | 385,000 | NBCSN | 11am-1pm | Sunday, 9/27 |
| 7 | Puebla vs. Cruz Azul | 356,000 | UDN | 6-8pm | Sunday, 9/27 |
| 8 | Sporting KC vs. Seattle | 278,000 | ESPN | 5-7pm | Sunday, 9/27 |
| 9 | Leicester vs. Arsenal | 262,000 | USA | 10am-Noon | Saturday, 9/26 |
| 10 | Pumas vs. Tigres | 127,000 | UDN | 1-3pm | Sunday, 9/27 |
| 11 | Real Madrid vs. Malaga | 112,000 | BEIN | 12:15-2:15pm | Saturday, 9/26 |
| 12 | LA Galaxy vs. FC Dallas | 108,000 | FS1 | 9:30-11:30pm | Sunday, 9/27 |
| 13 | Frankfurt vs. Hertha Berlin | 77,000 | FS1 | 9:30-11:30am | Sunday, 9/27 |
| 14 | SJ Earthquakes vs. Real Salt Lake | 76,000 | FS1 | 7-9:30pm | Sunday, 9/27 |
| 15 | RBNY vs. Orlando City | 68,000 | UDN | 7-9pm | Friday, 9/25 |
| 16 | Napoli vs. Juventus | 59,000 | BEIN | 2:45-4:45pm | Saturday, 9/26 |
| 17 | Barcelona vs. Las Palmas | 58,000 | BEIN | 10am-Noon | Saturday, 9/26 |
| 18 | Dortmund vs. Darmstadt | 47,000 | FS2 | 11:30am-1:30pm | Sunday, 9/27 |
| 19 | Georgia vs. Texas A&M women | 26,000 | ESPNU | 1-3pm | Sunday, 9/27 |
| 20 | Moreirense vs. Porto | 24,000 | UDN | 3:30-5:30pm | Friday, 9/25 |
| 20 | Guincamp vs. Monaco | 24,000 | BEIN | 11-1pm | Sunday, 9/27 |
| 22 | Cologne vs. Ingolstadt | 17,000 | FS2 | 2:30-4:30pm | Friday, 9/25 |
| 23 | Fulham vs. QPR | 15,000 | BEIN | 2:45-4:45pm | Friday, 9/25 |
| 23 | Inter Milan vs. Fiorentina | 15,000 | BEIN | 2:45-4:45pm | Sunday, 9/27 |
| 25 | Mainz vs. Bayern Munich | 13,000 | FS2 | 9:30-11:30am | Saturday, 9/26 |
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