Most-watched MLS teams on US TV during the 2016 season

The 2016 Major League Soccer regular season saw 90 games made available on national television. ESPN led the way with 32 games broadcast across their networks, 28 featured on the primary channel. FOX Sports showed the equivalent of 31 matches with 5 on the FOX broadcast network while Univision aired 27 matches on their networks with a special California Clásico shown on the primary network.

Here’s the breakdown of which clubs were shown on which networks in 2016:

Team	ESPN	FOX Sports	Univison	Overall
LA Galaxy	7	7	4	18
New York City FC	6	7	4	17
Seattle Sounders	9	7	0	16
New York Red Bulls	5	7	4	16
Orlando City SC	4	6	6	16
Portland Timbers	8	7	0	15
Sporting KC	4	8	2	14
DC United	3	1	6	10
SJ Earthquakes	1	2	7	10
Houston Dynamo	2	0	6	8
Toronto FC	3	3	0	6
Chicago Fire	0	1	5	6
FC Dallas	1	2	2	5
NE Revolution	3	1	1	5
Real Salt Lake	1	1	3	5
Vancouver Whitecaps	1	1	1	3
Montreal Impact	3	0	0	3
Crew SC	1	2	0	3
Colorado Rapids	2	0	1	3
Philadelphia Union	0	1	2	3

Each club had a minimum of three games broadcast nationally in the United States. New York City FC and the Los Angeles Galaxy led the league with 17 national television appearances, while the New York Red Bulls, Orlando City SC and Seattle Sounders were just slightly behind, each making 16 appearances.

Team	ESPN	Fox	Univision	Overall
Toronto FC	220,000	553,000	0	386,500
LA Galaxy	294,429	360,429	502,250	366,278
New York Red Bulls	261,200	463,429	224,750	340,563
New York City FC	351,500	330,714	233,500	328,304
Sporting KC	258,000	377,250	137,500	308,929
Portland Timbers	289,625	316,286	0	302,067
Seattle Sounders	327,667	213,857	0	277,875
SJ Earthquakes	180,000	218,000	289,714	264,400
Vancouver Whitecaps	463,000	149,000	165,000	259,000
Houston Dynamo	296,500	0	221,500	240,250
Montreal Impact	234,333	0	0	234,333
Chicago Fire	0	212,000	226,200	223,833
DC United	212,333	223,000	226,833	222,100
Orlando City SC	247,250	174,333	249,333	220,688
Crew SC	362,000	142,500	0	215,667
FC Dallas	363,000	142,000	202,000	210,200
NE Revolution	213,333	113,000	185,000	187,600
Colorado Rapids	178,500	0	188,000	181,667
Philadelphia Union	0	140,000	191,000	174,000
Real Salt Lake	141,000	56,000	186,667	151,400

Upon first glance, the results can appear surprising. Toronto FC are ranked #1 in the overall table, averaging 386,500 viewers over 6 games. This is due in large part to their September 18th matchup against the New York Red Bulls, who ranked #2, shown on the FOX broadcast network with a significant lead-in from FOX’s NFL coverage. When only counting games broadcast on cable networks, Toronto FC averaged only 186,200 viewers. The bump experienced by appearing on the FOX broadcast network accounted for over 57% of Toronto’s total viewership on US TV for the 2016 season.

Team	Cable
Houston Dynamo	296,500
Vancouver Whitecaps	296,000
New York City FC	276,545
Seattle Sounders	267,063
Portland Timbers	262,462
Montreal Impact	234,333
LA Galaxy	225,769
Sporting KC	212,700
DC United	209,000
New York Red Bulls	204,667
Crew SC	198,333
FC Dallas	188,333
Toronto FC	186,200
NE Revolution	184,250
Orlando City SC	184,000
Chicago Fire	183,000
Colorado Rapids	178,000
SJ Earthquakes	168,667
Philadelphia Union	118,000
Real Salt Lake	95,500

New York City FC proved to be the most popular club when counting broadcasts available only on cable, with their two Hudson River Derby matchups on FOX accounting for only 27% of the clubs total viewership. Real Salt Lake, Philadelphia Union and Colorado Rapids were by far the least popular teams on American television in 2016. All three teams combined to play 11 games across ESPN, FS1 and UniMás with not even one drawing an audience larger than 199,000 viewers.