While the first week of the MLS Cup Playoffs got off to a poor start with average viewership for the knockout rounds down 10% from 2015, English language viewership for the first leg of the conference semi-finals was down 6%, averaging just 193,250 viewers compared to 206,000 last season.
ESPN and ESPN Deportes’ viewing audience for the LA Galaxy vs. Colorado MLS game on Sunday, October 30 was so disappointing (299,000) that a mid-week League Cup game shown during office hours on beIN SPORTS and beIN SPORTS en Español almost beat it (274,000).
In Canada, TSN’s coverage of the match between Toronto FC and New York City FC drew an audience of 238,000. In America, only 195,000 watched on FOX Sports 1.
Wednesday’s special Copa MX edition of the Super Clásico drew 1.44 million viewers on Univision Deportes, making it the most-viewed soccer match of the week.
NBC featured two Premier League matches on their broadcast network this past weekend. Crystal Palace-Liverpool in the Saturday afternoon slot (12:30pm-2:30pm ET) and Southampton-Chelsea on Sunday from Noon-2pm ET. The matches attracted 769,000 and 817,000 viewers respectively, making them the 4th and 3rd most-watched Premier League matches of the season.
Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for October 26-31, 2016:
| Rank | Home | Away | League/Cup | Date/Kickoff | TV1 | TV2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Club América | Chivas | Copa MX | 10/26/16, 10PM | —; — | UDN; 1440000 | 1,440,000 |
| 2 | Chivas | Cruz Azul | Liga MX | 10/29/16, 10PM | Univision, 596000 | UDN, 507,000 | 1,103,000 |
| 3 | Tigres | Monterrey | Liga MX | 10/29/16, 8PM | Univision, 642000 | UDN, 405000 | 1,047,000 |
| 4 | Southampton | Chelsea | EPL | 10/30/16, Noon | NBC; 817000 | —; — | 817,000 |
| 5 | Crystal Palace | Liverpool | EPL | 10/29/16, 12:30PM | NBC; 769000 | Unvso; 38000 | 807,000 |
| 6 | Club América | Santos Laguna | Liga MX | 10/29/16; 10PM | UniMás; 520,000 | —; — | 520,000 |
| 7 | Barcelona | Granada | La Liga | 10/29/16, 2:45PM | beIN; 113000 | beIE; 405000 | 518,000 |
| 8 | Seattle Sounders | Sporting Kansas City | MLS | 10/27/16, 10PM | FS1; 207000 | UniMás/UDN; 256000 | 463,000 |
| 9 | Manchester United | Burnley | EPL | 10/29/16, 10AM | NBCSN; 392000 | Unvso; 34000 | 426,000 |
| 10 | Everton | West Ham | EPL | 10/30/16, 9:30AM | NBCSN; 343000 | Unvso; 44000 | 387,000 |
| 11 | Puebla | León | Liga MX | 10/30/16, 7PM | —; — | UDN; 355000 | 355,000 |
| 12 | Deportivo Alavés | Real Madrid | La Liga | 10/29/16, 10:15AM | beIN; 89000 | beIE; 221000 | 310,000 |
| 13 | Los Angeles Galaxy | Colorado Rapids | MLS | 10/30/16, 5PM | ESPN; 231000 | ESPND; 68000 | 299,000 |
| 14 | Sunderland | Arsenal | EPL | 10/29/16, 7:30AM | NBCSN; 276000 | Unvso; 9000 | 285,000 |
| 15 | Toronto FC | Philadelphia Union | MLS | 10/26/16, 7:30PM | ESPN2; 124000 | UniMás; 151000 | 275,000 |
| 16 | Manchester United | Manchester City | League Cup | 10/26/16, 3PM | beIN; 78000 | beIE; 196000 | 274,000 |
| 17 | Los Angeles Galaxy | Real Salt Lake | MLS | 10/26/16, 10:30PM | UniMás; 223000 | —; — | 223,000 |
| 18 | DC United | Montreal Impact | MLS | 10/27/16, 7:30PM | —; — | UniMás/UDN; 217000 | 217,000 |
| 19 | Montreal Impact | New York Red Bulls | MLS | 10/30/16, 3PM | ESPN; 187000 | ESPND; 21000 | 208,000 |
| 20 | Toronto FC | New York City FC | MLS | 10/30/16, 7PM | FS1; 195000 | —; — | 195,000 |
| 21 | Atlético Madrid | Málaga | La Liga | 10/29/16, 12:30PM | —; — | beIE; 186000 | 186,000 |
| 22 | Spurs | Leicester City | EPL | 10/29/16, 10AM | CNBC; 179000 | —; — | 179,000 |
| 23 | Chiapas | Querétaro | Liga MX | 10/29/16, 6PM | —; — | UDN; 171000 | 171,000 |
| 24 | Stoke City | Swansea City | EPL | 10/31/16, 4PM | NBCSN; 170000 | —; — | 170,000 |
| 25 | Seattle Sounders | FC Dallas | MLS | 10/30/16, 9:30PM | FS1; 160000 | —; — | 160,000 |
| 26 | Toluca | Tijuana | Liga MX | 10/30/16, 1PM | —; — | UDN; 107000 | 107,000 |
| 27 | Real Betis | Espanyol | La Liga | 10/30/16, 1:30PM | —; — | beIE; 79000 | 79,000 |
| 28 | Wolfsburg | Bayer Leverkusen | Bundesliga | 10/29/16, 9:30AM | —; — | FOXD; 73000 | 73,000 |
| 29 | Pachuca | Atlas FC | Liga MX | 10/29/16, 8:06PM | —; — | NBC Universo; 67000 | 67,000 |
| 30 | Borussia Dortmund | Schalke 04 | Bundesliga | 10/29/16, 12:30PM | FS2; 25000 | FOXD; 37000 | 62,000 |
| 31 | Athletic Bilbao | Osasuna | La Liga | 10/30/16, 11:15AM | —; — | beIE; 60000 | 60,000 |
| 32 | Köln | Hamburg | Bundesliga | 10/30/16, 12:30PM | FS1; 40000 | FOXD; 12000 | 52,000 |
| 33 | Sampdoria | Inter Milan | Serie A | 10/30/16, 3:45PM | beIN; 47000 | —; — | 47,000 |
| 34 | Las Palmas | Celta Vigo | La Liga | 10/30/16, 3:45PM | —; — | beIE; 45000 | 45,000 |
| 35 | Deportivo | Valencia | La Liga | 10/31/16, 3:45PM | —; — | beIE; 33000 | 33,000 |
| 36 | Lille | Paris Saint Germain | Ligue 1 | 10/28/16, 2:45PM | beIN; 29000 | —; — | 29,000 |
| 37 | Leganes | Real Sociedad | La Liga | 10/28/16, 2:45PM | —; — | beIE; 22000 | 22,000 |
| 38 | Nacional | Sporting Clube | Primeira Liga | 10/28/16, 4PM | —; — | UDN; 18000 | 18,000 |
| 39 | Empoli | Roma | Serie A | 10/30/16, 10AM | beIN; 18000 | —; — | 18,000 |
| 40 | Hoffenheim | Hertha Berlin | Bundesliga | 10/30/16, 10:30AM | FS2; 16000 | —; — | 16,000 |
| 41 | Mönchengladbach | Frankfurt | Bundesliga | 10/28/16, 2:30PM | FS2; 14000 | —; — | 14,000 |
| 42 | Augsburg | Bayern Munich | Bundesliga | 10/29/16, 9:30AM | FS2; 14000 | —; — | 14,000 |
| 43 | Cagliari | Palermo | Serie A | 10/31/16, 4PM | beIN; 13000 | —; — | 13,000 |
| 44 | Puerto Rico FC | Carolina Railhawks | NASL | 10/29/16, 7:30PM | beIN; 5000 | —; — | 5,000 |
| 45 | Udinese | Torino | Serie A | 10/31/16, 2PM | beIN; 1000 | —; — | 1,000 |
2016 MLS TV averages:
| League | Overall | ESPN | ESPN2 | ESPND | FOX | FS1 | FOXD | UniMás | UDN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLS | 276,689 | 290,179 | 201,500 | 46,000 | 658,000 | 154,346 | 34,677 | 163,560 | 70,280 |
| MLS Playoffs | 255,000 | 209,000 | 124,000 | 44,500 | — | 187,333 | — | 211,750 |
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