Thursday’s first leg of the Apertura final between Tigres and Club América was viewed by 2.8 million people on Univision and Univision Deportes, a Univision record for the first leg of an Apertura final. Then on Sunday, Univision set another record as 3.3 million viewers tuned in to watch the second leg unfold, making it the top-rated Apertura final since Toluca and Chivas contested the title in 2006. When comparing to previous years’ finals the second leg saw an 18% increase from 2015 (2.8M) and a 10% increase from 2014 (3M).
NBC averaged 520,000 viewers for their special Premier League Boxing Day coverage. Viewership peaked during the 10am ET window as 758,000 watched one of two simultaneous kickoffs on NBCSN and CNBC.
Newcastle United’s Boxing Day fixture against Sheffield Wednesday on beIN SPORTS drew an audience of 38,000, making it the most-viewed Championship match of the season. The English Championship on beIN SPORTS is averaging just under 15,000 viewers with 28 matches broadcast so far this season.
Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for December 20-26, 2016:
| Rank | Home | Away | Competition | Date | TV1 | TV2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | América | Tigres | Liga MX | 12/25/16 | Univision; 232800 | UDN; 972000 | 3,300,000 |
| 2 | Tigres | América | Liga MX | 12/22/16 | Univision; 1941000 | UDN; 859000 | 2,800,000 |
| 3 | Hull City | Man City | Premier League | 12/26/16 | NBCSN; 507000 | Unvso; 76000 | 583,000 |
| 4 | Man Utd | Sunderland | Premier League | 12/26/16 | NBCSN; 522000 | —; — | 522,000 |
| 5 | Chelsea | Bournemouth | Premier League | 12/26/16 | CNBC; 209000 | Unvso; 27000 | 236,000 |
| 6 | Watford | Crystal Palace | Premier League | 12/26/16 | NBCSN; 218000 | —; — | 218,000 |
| 7 | Barcelona | Hércules | Copa Del Rey | 12/21/16 | —; — | beIE; 112000 | 112,000 |
| 8 | Köln | Leverkusen | Bundesliga | 12/21/16 | FS2; 14000 | FOXD; 87000 | 101,000 |
| 9 | Bayern | Leipzig | Bundesliga | 12/21/16 | FS1; 100000 | —; — | 100,000 |
| 10 | Dortmund | Augsburg | Bundesliga | 12/20/16 | FS1; 73000 | —; — | 73,000 |
| 11 | Newcastle | Sheffield Wed | Championship | 12/26/16 | beIN; 38000 | —; — | 38,000 |
| 12 | Atletico Madrid | Guijuelo | Copa Del Rey | 12/20/16 | —; — | beIE; 33000 | 33,000 |
| 13 | Villarreal | Toledo | Copa Del Rey | 12/20/16 | —; — | beIE; 21000 | 21,000 |
| 14 | PSG | Lorient | Ligue 1 | 12/21/16 | beIN; 21000 | —; — | 21,000 |
| 15 | Sevilla | Formentera | Copa Del Rey | 12/21/16 | —; — | beIE; 16000 | 16,000 |
| 16 | Athletic | Santander | Copa Del Rey | 12/22/16 | —; — | beIE; 16000 | 16,000 |
| 17 | Hamburg | Schalke | Bundesliga | 12/20/16 | FS2; 14000 | —; — | 14,000 |
| 18 | Mönchengladbach | Wolfsburg | Bundesliga | 12/20/16 | —; — | FOXD; 14000 | 14,000 |
| 19 | Atalanta | Empoli | Serie A | 12/20/16 | beIN; 14000 | —; — | 14,000 |
| 20 | Roma | Chievo | Serie A | 12/22/16 | beIN; 14000 | —; — | 14,000 |
| 21 | Beleneses | Sporting CP | Primeira Liga | 12/22/16 | —; — | UDN; 11000 | 11,000 |
| 22 | Reading | Norwich | Championship | 12/26/16 | beIN; 2000 | —; — | 2,000 |
Most-watched leagues on US TV
| League | Average |
|---|---|
| Liga MX | 804,082 |
| Premier League | 453,427 |
| MLS | 292,365 |
| La Liga | 145,444 |
| NWSL | 88,500 |
| Bundesliga | 79,458 |
| Primeira Liga | 33,000 |
| Serie A | 27,000 |
| Championship | 16,714 |
| Ligue 1 | 14,000 |
| NASL | 7,500 |
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