Mexican soccer continued to dominate American television as the Liguilla began this past week. Saturday’s match between Monterrey and Toluca drew 1.3 million viewers on Univision to make it the most-watched soccer match of the week. The following day, Chivas and Atlas drew 1.2 million viewers to become the most-watched game that day.
Meanwhile, Major League Soccer continued its TV ratings struggles as not a single game of the five nationally broadcast this weekend managed to draw more than 300,000 viewers. Portland and Atlanta came the closest Sunday afternoon on ESPN drawing 297,000.
Better news for fans of the NWSL as Saturday’s match between Sky Blue FC and the Houston Dash was watched by a season high 109,000 on Lifetime. The league is now averaging 88,600 viewers five weeks into the new season.
Finally, the Bundesliga made its penultimate appearance on the FOX broadcast network Saturday as 339,000 people witnessed the high scoring match between the 2016-17 champions Bayern Munich and runners-up RB Leipzig.
Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for May 8-14, 2017:
Average viewing audiences for soccer leagues on US TV:
| Rank | Date | Competition | Teams | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5/13/17 | Liga MX Liguilla | Monterrey / Tigres | Univision; 1300000 |
| 2 | 5/14/17 | Liga MX Liguilla | Chivas / Atlas | Univision; 1200000 |
| 3 | 5/13/17 | Liga MX Liguilla | Toluca / Santos | UDN; 686000 |
| 4 | 5/10/17 | Liga MX Liguilla | Tigres / Monterrey | UDN; 569000 |
| 5 | 5/14/17 | Premier League | Spurs / Man Utd | NBCSN; 568000 |
| 6 | 5/10/17 | Liga MX Liguilla | Santos / Toluca | UDN; 513000 |
| 7 | 5/9/17 | UEFA CL Semi Finals | Juventus / Monaco | FS1/D; 493000 |
| 8 | 5/13/17 | Premier League | Arsenal / Stoke City | NBCSN; 425000 |
| 9 | 5/10/17 | UEFA CL Semi Finals | Atlético Madrid / Real Madrid | FS1; 366000 |
| 10 | 5/13/17 | Bundesliga | Leipzig / Bayern | FOX; 339000 |
| 11 | 5/13/17 | Premier League | Swansea City / Sunderland | NBCSN; 300000 |
| 12 | 5/14/17 | MLS | Portland Timbers / Atlanta United | ESPN; 297000 |
| 13 | 5/14/17 | Premier League | West Ham / Liverpool | NBCSN; 293000 |
| 14 | 5/13/17 | Premier League | Man City / Leicester City | NBCSN; 266000 |
| 15 | 5/14/17 | La Liga | Las Palmas / Barcelona | beIN; 215000 |
| 16 | 5/12/17 | Premier League | West Brom / Chelsea | NBCSN; 205000 |
| 17 | 5/11/17 | UEFA EL Semi Finals | Man Utd / Celta Vigo | FS1; 195000 |
| 18 | 5/13/17 | MLS | Chicago Fire / Seattle Sounders | ESPN2; 189000 |
| 19 | 5/8/17 | Premier League | Chelsea / Middlesbrough | NBCSN; 188000 |
| 20 | 5/14/17 | MLS | FC Dallas / New York City | FS1/D; 150000 |
| 21 | 5/14/17 | MLS | New York Red Bulls / Los Angeles Galaxy | FS1/D; 168000 |
| 22 | 5/13/17 | MLS | Colorado Rapids / San Jose Earthquakes | UniMás; 144000 |
| 23 | 5/13/17 | NWSL | Dash / Sky Blue | Lifetime; 109000 |
| 24 | 5/14/17 | Primeira Liga | Porto / Ferreira | UDN; 39000 |
