Most-watched soccer games for Feb. 25-Mar. 1, 2020

MLS returned last week with some strong numbers across the board. Early Saturday afternoon, a network season-opener record 505,000 viewers tuned in to Univision and TUDN to witness Javier “Chicharito” Hernández’s debut with the Los Angeles Galaxy in Houston. A few hours later on Saturday, Nashville SC made their MLS debut against Atlanta United before a state record-breaking home crowd of 59,069. The match was also broadcast on the FOX network to a television audience of 756,000, the largest audience for an opening round MLS match in at least a decade.

ESPN’s opening weekend MLS doubleheader averaged 387,000 viewers, up 2.5% from opening weekend last season. FS1 also saw an increase, averaging 229,000 viewers for their late Sunday broadcast featuring Portland Timbers and Minnesota United. Both of FOX Sports 1’s opening round MLS broadcasts in 2019 failed to draw more than 200,000 viewers.

Meanwhile, beIN SPORTS’ broadcast of el Clásico averaged a combined 941,418 viewers, up 72% from the first time these two teams met earlier this season, and the highest viewership for the contest since 2017.

The end to Liverpool’s “invincible” bid for the 2019/20 season at the hands of Watford was watched by 606,000 viewers on NBCSN, the third largest audience for a Saturday Premier League match on NBCSN this season. December’s Manchester Derby sits atop this list, having averaged 675,000 viewers on the network.

HT ShowBuzz Daily