It was a fantastic New Year’s Eve for the Premier League on NBC as Saturday afternoon’s match between Liverpool and Manchester City was watched by over 1.2 million people, which was the first Premier League match this season to pass that mark. When factoring in the audience watching on NBC Universo, the match averaged an impressive 1.377 million viewers.
The Premier League on NBC beat out college basketball on CBS by 24,000 viewers with both games kicking (or tipping) off at the same time. The Premier League on NBC also outdrew the NHL Centennial Classic, airing the next day on NBC, by 300,000 viewers.
The Scottish Premiership made its return to FOX Sports 1 last weekend as Celtic came back to defeat Rangers 2-1 in the final league meeting between the two rivals. The New Year’s Eve date along with a lack of competition from the English Premier League helped to boost viewing numbers in the United States by 165% as 61,000 tuned in on FOX Sports 1.
Here are the most-watched soccer games on US TV for December 27-January 1, 2017:
| Rank | Home | Away | Competition | Date | TV1 | TV2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | Man City | Premier League | 12/31/16 | NBC; 1235000 | Unvso; 142000 | 1,377,000 |
| 2 | Man Utd | Middlesbrough | Premier League | 12/31/16 | NBCSN; 586000 | Unvso; 72000 | 658,000 |
| 3 | Arsenal | Crystal Palace | Premier League | 1/1/17 | NBCSN; 481000 | —; — | 481,000 |
| 4 | Liverpool | Stoke | Premier League | 12/27/16 | NBCSN; 293000 | —; — | 293,000 |
| 5 | Watford | Spurs | Premier League | 1/1/17 | NBCSN; 265000 | —; — | 265,000 |
| 6 | Southampton | Spurs | Premier League | 12/28/16 | NBCSN; 241000 | —; — | 241,000 |
| 7 | Hull City | Everton | Premier League | 12/30/16 | NBCSN; 136000 | —; — | 136,000 |
| 8 | Rangers | Celtic | Scottish Premiership | 12/31/16 | FS1; 61000 | —; — | 61,000 |
| 9 | Aston Villa | Leeds Utd | Championship | 12/29/16 | beIN; 25000 | —; — | 25,000 |
| 10 | Derby | Birmingham | Championship | 12/27/16 | beIN; 4000 | —; — | 4,000 |
| 11 | Brentford | Norwich | Championship | 12/31/16 | beIN; 4000 | —; — | 4,000 |
| 12 | Preston | Sheffield Wed | Championship | 12/31/16 | beIN; 1000 | —; — | 1,000 |
Most-watched leagues on US TV
| League | Average |
|---|---|
| Liga MX | 806,144 |
| Premier League | 455,604 |
| MLS | 292,365 |
| La Liga | 145,444 |
| NWSL | 88,500 |
| Bundesliga | 79,458 |
| Primeira Liga | 33,000 |
| Serie A | 27,000 |
| Championship | 15,688 |
| Ligue 1 | 14,000 |
| NASL | 7,000 |
