Mexico’s 1-0 win against Iceland last week was the second most-watched friendly in the United States in the past 12 months. The broadcast fell just 40,000 viewers short of last October’s 1.6 million for the match between Mexico and New Zealand in Nashville, Tennessee. The United States also played New Zealand three days later in front of a TV audience of over 1.1 million people.
Liga MX made its return to Univision’s primary network in the 10pm ET window after a break last weekend. Club América and Puebla played to a 0-0 draw with an audience exceeding 1.3 million, extending Univision’s streak of matches drawing more than 1.3 million viewers in the 10pm-midnight ET window to 4, going back to the opening weekend on January 7.
Liga MX is sure to see some even larger numbers this week as El Súper Clásico is contested between Chivas and Club América. The match can be seen on the Univision Deportes Facebook page in English for the first time as well as on Univision and Univision Deportes.
Last Saturday’s Premier League match between Liverpool and Spurs was the 17th Premier League match on the NBC broadcast network this season. With 951,000 viewers it ranks as the 8th most watched this season and 3rd out of 4 in 2017.
Last Wednesday’s midweek FA Cup replay between Leicester City and Derby County drew a combined 127,000 viewers on FS1 and FOX Deportes, beating out all of the weekend’s Bundesliga coverage to make it the most watched soccer match on FOX’s networks for the week.
Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for February 7-13, 2017:
| Rank | Home | Away | Competition | Date | TV1 | TV2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico | Iceland | Int’l Friendly | 2/8/17 | —; — | UniMás/UDN; 1560000 | 1,560,000 |
| 2 | América | Puebla | Liga MX | 2/11/17 | Univision; 817000 | UDN; 553000 | 1,370,000 |
| 3 | Liverpool | Spurs | Premier League | 2/11/17 | NBC; 951000 | Unvso; 44000 | 995,000 |
| 4 | Monterrey | Pumas | Liga MX | 2/11/17 | Univision; 666000 | UDN; 267000 | 933,000 |
| 5 | Toluca | Veracruz | Liga MX | 2/12/17 | Univision; 493000 | UDN; 117000 | 610,000 |
| 6 | Chiapas | América | Liga MX | 2/7/17 | —; — | UDN; 527000 | 527,000 |
| 7 | Man Utd | Watford | Premier League | 2/11/17 | NBCSN; 481000 | Unvso; 40000 | 521,000 |
| 8 | Barcelona | Atlético Madid | Copa del Rey | 2/7/17 | beIN; 126000 | beIE; 313000 | 439,000 |
| 9 | Osasuna | Real Madrid | La Liga | 2/11/17 | beIN; 86000 | beIE; 341000 | 427,000 |
| 10 | Swansea City | Leicester City | Premier League | 2/12/17 | NBCSN; 409000 | —; — | 409,000 |
| 11 | Burnley | Chelsea | Premier League | 2/12/17 | NBCSN; 391000 | —; — | 391,000 |
| 12 | Santos | Cruz Azul | Liga MX | 2/12/17 | —; — | UDN; 373000 | 373,000 |
| 13 | Alavés | Barcelona | La Liga | 2/11/17 | beIN; 80000 | beIE; 248000 | 328,000 |
| 14 | Arsenal | Hull City | Premier League | 2/11/17 | NBCSN; 279000 | Unvso; 32000 | 311,000 |
| 15 | Querétaro | León | Liga MX | 2/11/17 | —; — | UDN; 308000 | 308,000 |
| 16 | Bournemouth | Man City | Premier League | 2/13/17 | NBCSN; 169000 | Unvso; 20000 | 189,000 |
| 17 | Atletico Madrid | Celta Vigo | La Liga | 2/12/17 | —; — | beIE; 148000 | 148,000 |
| 18 | Pachuca | Tigres | Liga MX | 2/11/17 | —; — | Unvso; 129000 | 129,000 |
| 19 | Leicester City | Derby | FA Cup | 2/8/17 | FS1; 111000 | FOXD; 16000 | 127,000 |
| 20 | Athletic | Deportivo | La Liga | 2/11/17 | —; — | beIE; 122000 | 122,000 |
| 21 | Las Palmas | Sevilla | La Liga | 2/12/17 | —; — | beIE; 116000 | 116,000 |
| 22 | Leverkusen | Frankfurt | Bundesliga | 2/11/17 | FS2; 13000 | FOXD; 99000 | 112,000 |
| 23 | Alavés | Celta Vigo | Copa del Rey | 2/8/17 | —; — | beIE; 102000 | 102,000 |
| 24 | Freiburg | Köln | Bundesliga | 2/12/17 | FS1; 54000 | FOXD; 22000 | 76,000 |
| 25 | Wolfsbug | Hoffenheim | Bundesliga | 2/12/17 | FS1; 49000 | FOXD; 18000 | 67,000 |
| 26 | Ingolstadt | Bayern | Bundesliga | 2/11/17 | FS1; 50000 | —; — | 50,000 |
| 27 | Espanyol | Real Sociedad | La Liga | 2/10/17 | —; — | beIE; 47000 | 47,000 |
| 28 | Everton | Middlesbrough | Premier League | 2/11/17 | CNBC; 42000 | —; — | 42,000 |
| 29 | Crotone | Juventus | Serie A | 2/8/17 | beIN; 18000 | beIE; 8000 | 26,000 |
| 30 | Mainz | Augsburg | Bundesliga | 2/10/17 | FS2; 24000 | —; — | 24,000 |
| 31 | Cagliari | Juventus | Serie A | 2/12/17 | beIN; 24000 | —; — | 24,000 |
| 32 | Schalke 04 | Hertha | Bundesliga | 2/11/17 | FS2; 15000 | —; — | 15,000 |
| 33 | Eibar | Granada | La Liga | 2/13/17 | —; — | beIE; 15000 | 15,000 |
| 34 | Bordeaux | PSG | Ligue 1 | 2/10/17 | beIN; 15000 | —; — | 15,000 |
| 35 | Inter Milan | Empoli | Serie A | 2/12/17 | beIN; 13000 | —; — | 13,000 |
| 36 | Bologna | Milan | Serie A | 2/8/17 | beIN; 4000 | —; — | 4,000 |
| 37 | Lazio | Milan | Serie A | 2/13/17 | beIN; 2000 | —; — | 2,000 |
Average viewing audiences for soccer leagues on US TV:
| League | Average |
|---|---|
| Liga MX | 775,344 |
| Premier League | 467,947 |
| MLS | 292,365 |
| La Liga | 147,379 |
| NWSL | 88,500 |
| Bundesliga | 77,233 |
| Primeira Liga | 34,360 |
| Serie A | 26,373 |
| Championship | 16,000 |
| Ligue 1 | 16,000 |
| NASL | 7,000 |
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