The opening game of the 2016/17 Bundesliga season between Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen was watched by a viewing audience of 59,000, according to SportsTVRatings.com.
The match, which was televised live on FOX Sports 1 in the United States, was a one-sided 6-0 victory for Bayern Munich in a match that aired from 2:30-4:30pm ET. Coverage began at 2pm ET with a 30-minute pregame show hosted by Ian Joy with analysts Eric Wynalda and Jovan Kirovski (pictured above).
In comparison to the Bundesliga season opener last year, the Bayern-Bremen viewing number was an improvement on the 32,000 who watched Bayern Munich vs. Hamburg on Friday, August 14, 2015. However, the Bayern-Hamburg game was on FOX Sports 2, which is in far fewer homes than FOX Sports 1.
Here are the TV viewing numbers for the opening games from the different European leagues televised in the USA:
| League | Game | Date/Time | Channel | Viewing Audience | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Premier League | Hull vs. Leicester | Sat., Aug. 13, 7:30am | CNBC | 208,000 |
| 2 | Bundesliga | Bayern vs. Bremen | Fri., Aug. 26, 2:30pm | FOX Sports 1 | 59,000 |
| 3 | Serie A | Juventus vs. Fiorentina | Sat., Aug. 20, 2:45pm | beIN SPORTS | 32,000 |
| 4 | Championship | Fulham vs. Newcastle | Fri., Aug. 5, 2:45pm | beIN SPORTS & beIN SPORTS en Español | 28,000 |
| 5 | Primeira Liga | Rio Ave vs. Porto | Fri., Aug. 12, 3:30pm | Univision Deportes | 24,000 |
| 6 | La Liga | Osasuna vs. Malaga | Fri. Aug. 19, 2:30pm | beIN SPORTS en Español | 22,000 |
| 7 | Ligue 1 | Bastia vs. PSG | Fri., Aug. 12, 2:30pm | beIN SPORTS & beIN SPORTS en Español | 16,000 |
