<p>England’s Premier League has leapfrogged Mexico’s Liga MX as the most popular soccer league in the United States, per a recent <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tv/premier-league-is-now-the-most-watched-soccer-league-in-usa-20231228-WST-478701.html">report</a>. As a result, the ranking of the most popular soccer leagues in the United States has dramatically changed.</p>



<p>The best way to measure the popularity of any given sports league is to base it on the number of people watching the games. Therefore, we’ve accumulated the TV and streaming viewership as reported by Nielsen as well as numbers shared by broadcasters and streaming services to find the winners. After all, Americans can watch thousands of soccer games each season, so the competition is quite fierce.</p>



<h2>Most popular soccer leagues in the United States based on viewership</h2>



<p>Based on the data calculated from Nielsen and shared by broadcasters, here are the top eight most-watched soccer leagues in the United States. These rankings are based on overall soccer viewership during the 2023 calendar year:</p>



<ol><li>Premier League</li><li>Liga MX</li><li>Major League Soccer</li><li>LaLiga</li><li>NWSL</li><li>Bundesliga</li><li>Serie A</li><li>Ligue 1</li></ol>



<h2>Gauging the popular soccer leagues in the United States</h2>



<p>The Premier League has only recently usurped the top spot from Liga MX. The Premier League’s recent success in TV viewership has cracked over two million viewers for many regular season games among the league’s traditional ‘big-six’ clubs. In fact, 2023 has been a record year for Premier League viewership in the United States. The <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tv/top-5-most-watched-premier-league-games-in-us-history-20231228-WST-480101.html">top five most-watched Premier League games</a> in US television history all occurred during 2023.</p>



<p>Previously, for decades, Mexico dominated the United States soccer viewership due to the number of Mexican-American fans in the US as well as the ease of accessibility of games across Univision. There are still millions of supporters for clubs such as Club América, Chivas, Cruz Azul, Pumas, and Monterrey. </p>



<p>But 2023 saw a seismic drop in viewership of Liga MX games. For instance, viewership of Liga MX’s 2023 Apertura decreased by 12% compared to 2022. </p>



<p>Still, there’s no doubt that the popularity of both Liga MX and the Premier League in the United States is due to many of their games being available on free over-the-air television. For example, the Premier League’s total viewership for 9 days over the Christmas period was higher than all of MLS’s TV broadcasts in the entirety of 2023. Being on network and cable television still matters when it comes to viewership.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" width="1200" height="675" src="https://ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https://images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/full/WST_20240110_WST_481080_Liga-MX-Rose-Bowl-1200x675_419d5b3e.webp&amp;width=1200&amp;height=675" alt="" class="wp-image-481307" srcset="https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/01/Liga-MX-Rose-Bowl-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/01/Liga-MX-Rose-Bowl-300x169.jpg 300w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/01/Liga-MX-Rose-Bowl-768x432.jpg 768w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/01/Liga-MX-Rose-Bowl.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px"></figure></figure>



<h2>Popularity and streaming</h2>



<p>After the Premier League and Liga MX, there’s no doubt that Major League Soccer is a distant third in the most popular soccer leagues. Lionel Messi’s arrival ballooned the league’s streaming service (MLS Season Pass) to <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tv/mls-season-pass-nearing-1-million-subscribers-per-report-20230724-WST-444953.html">over one million subscribers</a>, which is an impressive statistic on its own. Streaming numbers for individual MLS games have not been made available by the league or Apple.</p>



<p>However, Nielsen has reported that 1.75 million viewers tuned in on Univision to watch Messi’s debut game for Inter Miami. Plus, 815,000 watched the MLS Cup final on FOX. While streaming numbers are unavailable, the TV viewership for the 2023 final was down 58% compared to 2022.</p>



<p>In fourth place among the most popular soccer leagues is LaLiga. The Spanish top-flight league benefits from several games per week being televised across ESPN Deportes, which is consistently generating roughly 150,000 viewers per match. That consistency in addition to all of the games streamed on ESPN+, as well as superclubs Barcelona and Real Madrid, puts LaLiga ahead of NWSL.</p>



<h2>The growth of NWSL</h2>



<p>While last year’s el Clásico in LaLiga pulled 538,000 viewers on ESPN Deportes (not including ESPN+), the NWSL has experienced growth, and it is making a conscious effort to expand with new teams lining up in the San Francisco Bay area, Boston, and Utah. The <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSSportsGang/status/1724474306040627660" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">last two NWSL</a> finals <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tv/nwsl-championship-draws-800k-viewers-on-cbs-20231114-WST-469992.html#comments-469992-containter">pulled over 800,000 viewers</a>. The final appearances of Ali Krieger and Megan Rapinoe helped that figure. The only thing that keeps it behind LaLiga in these standings is the presence of Real Madrid and Barcelona. Those two clubs have games available on ESPN Deportes, and fans regularly tune into games that do not even grab headlines.</p>



<p>Outside of the NWSL finals on network television, viewership of NWSL games is growing but finds itself well behind the other leagues.</p>



<p>Meanwhile, the Bundesliga and Serie A find most of its games on streaming. ESPN+ and Paramount+ typically do not make viewership numbers accessible. However, ESPN put a recent Dortmund-Leipzig game on ABC, where just over 400,000 fans tuned in. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<div class="ck-youtube"><iframe loading="lazy" title="NBC&apos;s Premier League TV Coverage - Behind The Scenes With Rebecca Lowe, Kyle Martino &amp; The 2 Robbies" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-La4imXf63c?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
</div></figure>



<p>Combining all of the soccer TV and streaming viewership together in 2023, the Premier League represents <a href="https://twitter.com/HelltownBeer/status/1745126322647494815" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">30% of all viewership</a>. Liga MX follows closely behind at 23%. </p>



<p>The remaining leagues hover around 1% (or lower) of all viewership.</p>



<p><em>PHOTOS: IMAGO</em>.</p>

Most popular soccer leagues in the United States

American soccer fans may disagree about who they deem as the most popular leagues in the United States, but the numbers don't lie.

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<div><figure class="image"></figure></div>
<p>For the avid, experienced soccer fans, certain soccer league names are easy to remember.</p>
<p>For instance, everyone knows the traditional major five leagues in Europe. The Premier League, Bundesliga, LaLiga, Serie A and Ligue 1 feature the game’s biggest stars. Then, there are professional, semi-professional and amateur leagues trailing each of those five.</p>
<p>For example, look at England, which has 11 levels to its extensive league system. Not only are there 7,000 teams, but the leagues themselves can be confusing.</p>
<p>Just at the top, the Premier League holds the 20 best teams. The Championship, despite its name, is actually the second-best league. Then League One, which bears a strikingly English similarity to France’s Ligue Un, is actually the third tier.</p>
<p>Already, the issues in naming arise, and that is just between the big leagues in the biggest European nations. Moreover, this is simply domestic leagues.</p>
<p>The Champions League is the top intercontinental club competition. But, for which continent? Well, the beauty of naming is that five of the six FIFA confederations use the moniker Champions League for the intercontinental club competition. The lone exception is South America, which calls the competition the Copa Libertadores.</p>
<p>Still, UEFA, CONCACAF, CAF, AFC and OFC all use the Champions League. And, more or less, these competitions follow the same format. The top teams from the previous season enter a group stage before a knockout stage. Then, the winner of that competition qualifies for the FIFA Club World Cup.</p>
<p>Again, this is just one example of the alphabet soup of soccer league names throughout the world. There are certain benefits to these similarities. On one hand, we know the CAF Champions League bears similarities to the UEFA Champions League. However, if we say simply ‘Champions League’, confusion persists, even if the first thought is that of UEFA.</p>
<h3>The world of soccer league names</h3>
<h5>Intended simplicity</h5>
<p>There are, of course, reasons the major soccer governing bodies elect to use such similar names. At its core, it is to keep it simple.</p>
<p>For example, if someone in Spain hears about the <span>DFL-Supercup in Germany</span>, they will relate it to the Supercopa de España. Ergo, the best team in the league from the previous season plays the domestic cup champion. The same can be said of the Supercoppa Italiana.</p>
<p>Similarly, fans can understand, at least on surface level, what the CAF Champions League is if they only watch the UEFA Champions League. The best teams from domestic leagues across the continent play a tournament-style competition.</p>
<p>Even internationally, the same style of competitions with similar names prevail. The Nations League, which only started a handful of years ago, produces great moments. That is a dangerously vague sentence, as the Nations League now exists in CONCACAF for both men and women. Yet, we get it. It is a prolonged tournament between nations from the same confederation, just not as important as the <em>main&nbsp;</em>tournament from that confederation, which only lasts a month.</p>
<p>Still, soccer lives up to its billing as ‘the World’s Game’. The complexity of its competitions immerses fans to have content any time of any day, more or less. The avid soccer fans might stumble in their discussions due to the same-name dilemma. Simply asking “<em>did you see that Champions League game last night?”&nbsp;</em>can now be unclear.</p>
<div class="ck-twitter"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">How many Champions Leagues are there? 🤔</p>
<p>UEFA, Concacaf, AFC (Asian), CAF (Africa). Any others?</p>
<p>— World Soccer Talk (@worldsoccertalk) <a href="https:\/\/twitter.com/worldsoccertalk/status/1483993041253900290?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2022</a></p></blockquote></div>
<p><script async="" src="https:\/\/platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h5>The same, but different</h5>
<p>Fans love soccer because of the array of viewing possibilities. They can watch games in Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Australia no matter where they are.</p>
<p>But, here are a couple examples of where these fans could get mixed up due to soccer league names. Just looking at Europe, there are 21 first division leagues that operate with some iteration of ‘premier’. Based on the language in the country, it could be a different spelling or pronunciation. Also, some countries call its top flight the premier league, premiership, premier division. The combinations are bountiful.</p>
<p>The Premier League in England is likely the first thought in people’s head. But the Primeira Liga in Portugal, the Russian Premier League and those in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and others are the ‘Premier League’ of that country. Where the Scottish Premiership stands out almost alone, other leagues fall into the “premier division” category.</p>
<p>It’s one thing to have the same name, especially when it is premier league. After all, these are the premier clubs. However, the tiers of soccer, something unfamiliar thus far to American sports, causes more confusion.</p>
<p>The aforementioned <a href="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/english-league-one-tv-schedule/">League One</a> versus Ligue Un dilemma stunts some. On one hand, Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe terrorize defenses. The other league hosts Doncaster Rovers and Fleetwood Town. Remember, this is not a slight of the third tier in England. In fact, many argue that England boasts the deepest string of divisions in terms of talent. It is more a criticism of the organization.</p>
<p>Rather than using something as simple as numbers (division 1, division 2, etc.), descriptors jumble up understanding. This is notwithstanding the fact that the teams in the English Championship do not play to be champions of England.</p>
<div id="attachment_363857" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><div><figure class="image"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-363857" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-363857" src="https:\/\/ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https:\/\/images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/WST_20220120_WST_366852_GettyImages-1321610572.webp&amp;width=1024&amp;height=683" alt="Mexico&apos;s attendance in 2021" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2021/12/GettyImages-1321610572.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2021/12/GettyImages-1321610572-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2021/12/GettyImages-1321610572-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2021/12/GettyImages-1321610572-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2021/12/GettyImages-1321610572-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px"></figure></div><p id="caption-attachment-363857" class="wp-caption-text">Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images</p></div>
<h5>Club vs International level</h5>
<p>If you ask any sensible person what the biggest sporting event in the world is, the majority of people would say the World Cup. And, of course by World Cup, it is the FIFA Men’s World Cup, which happens every four years. This is not to be confused with the <a href="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/club-world-cup-tv-schedule-streaming-links/">FIFA Men’s Club World Cup</a>. This tournament, while it does feature strong teams, pales in comparison to its international counterpart when it comes to prominence.</p>
<p>We already brought up the Nations League. This is a new tournament, at least it is at the end. The ‘group stage’ features two separate leagues. League A is the normal European favorites. For instance, Portugal and France, the only countries to win the competition. These two, as well as England, Spain and Italy play in League A. Smaller soccer nations, such as Romania, Israel or Finland play in League B.</p>
<p>It is not necessarily a “league” like we see in domestic countries. However, it does not hold the bearing of the other international tournaments. Also, there is a CONCACAF Nations League. The <a href="https:\/\/www.ussoccer.com/stories/2021/06/concacaf-nations-league-final-usmnt-3-mexico-2-match-report-stats-standings">United States won the inaugural Nations League</a> against Mexico.</p>
<p>One important thing to keep in mind is that, despite the CONCACAF and UEFA competitions holding the same sense of significance, the formats are somewhat different. Most people would look at CONCACAF as holding less notable nations. Fair enough, European nations take up eight of the top 10 <a href="https:\/\/www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/men?dateId=id13505" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FIFA World Rankings</a> spots. The highest nation from CONCACAF is the United States at No. 11, followed closely by Mexico at No. 14.</p>
<p>Regardless, the CONCACAF Nations League features three ‘leagues’, which, again, are just names for group stages. These are not actual soccer league names, more so tournaments to draw viewers in.</p>
<p>Additionally, this does not include the CONCACAF’s Women’s Nations League, starting up in 2024.</p>
<h5>Women’s game</h5>
<p>The progressive nature of the sport promotes women’s soccer. This is especially true over the last 20 to 25 years.</p>
<p>Sticking to the United States, which leads the charge in terms of the women’s game’s development, a number of leagues have come and gone. The Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) lasted three seasons until dissolving in 2003. Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) also lasted three seasons, dismantling in 2012. Since then, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) emerged as one of the best women’s leagues worldwide.</p>
<p>The USL W-League, related to the men’s side of the USL, served as the development league under the top divisions that came and went.</p>
<p>It is hard to keep track of constant change. The NWSL only has 12 teams, but those clubs have the burden of delivering the best women’s soccer in the area.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, the rise of the women’s game is prominent in Europe. Even then, the soccer league names can draw some ire.</p>
<p>First off, many of the major women’s leagues in Europe share similarities to their male counterparts. In Spain, the <span>Primera División de la Liga de Fútbol Femenino is the top flight. France has Division 1 Féminine while Germany has the Frauen-Bundesliga. Even if languages are not your forté, you can see the similarities.</span></p>
<p>The exception is England’s Women’s Super League. Officially, it is the FA Women’s Super League. However, most soccer fans hear “super league” and revert back to the European Super League. Instincts have fans think this includes every major team in Europe, as did the European Super League before it got shot down by fans. Or, fans could think of the Chinese Super League, which is simply the domestic competition in China. Many notable players, including Oscar and Marouane Fellaini, represent <a href="https:\/\/www.transfermarkt.us/super-league/marktwerte/wettbewerb/CSL" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clubs in that super league</a>.</p>
<p>But, no. The Women’s Super League is the equivalent of the English Premier League. In fact, a number of the clubs are the women’s teams from clubs like Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham.</p>
<h3>The depth, breadth and ensuing confusion</h3>
<p>Soccer is a beautiful game, and much of that comes from its global nature.</p>
<p>But, particularly in a growing market like the United States, the confusion created by similar names for extensive competitions could stunt growth. Of course, it takes time to adjust. For an American football or basketball fan that, generally speaking, is accustomed to one league, soccer’s depth can be overwhelming.</p>
<p>Fortunately, the worldwide game is organized, albeit notwithstanding the naming, to be simple enough. You play each team in your domestic league at least twice a year. If you do well enough, you either get promoted or get to play in Europe. Also, there are tournament-style competitions that only involve teams in your country.</p>
<p>Or, you could just check out <a href="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Soccer Talk’s main page</a> for when and where to watch each game.</p>
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Soccer league names come fast and they come often. The extensive nature of the sport can stump fans trying to keep track of the sport.

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