US Cable Soccer Viewership, Jan 19-25

• A US-based game tops the list for the first time since the 3rd week of December during an otherwise quiet mid-winter week of soccer on cable television.

• It's a crowded sports calendar right now - the NFL wrapping up, NBA/NHL shifting into gear, and college hoops heating up (somehow).

• MLS announced their 2021 schedule this week. Kickoff is a surprising 9 weeks from now (April 3-4, Easter Weekend).

US Cable Soccer programs: Jan 19-25
Viewers (000)	Event/Game	Network	Date
317	USA SOCCER WOMEN        L: USA/COLOMBIA	ESPN2	Jan 22, 21
314	PREMIER LEAGUE L: CHELSEA/LEICESTER	NBCSN	Jan 19, 21
295	LIGA MX L: ATLETICO SAN LUIS / CHIVAS	TUDN	Jan 21, 21
289	LIGA MX SAT: ATLAS VS. TIGRES UANL	TUDN	Jan 23, 21
265	LIGA MX L: MAZATLAN / SANTOS LAGUNA	TUDN	Jan 22, 21
265	PREMIER LEAGUE L: BURNLEY/LIVERPOOL	NBCSN	Jan 21, 21
252	LIGA MX L: PUEBLA / TIJUANA	TUDN	Jan 22, 21
245	LIGA MX SUN: QUERETARO / UNAM	TUDN	Jan 24, 21
241	PREMIER LEAGUE L: MAN UNITED/FULHAM	NBCSN	Jan 20, 21
225	LIGA MX MON: PACHUCA / CRUZ AZUL	TUDN	Jan 25, 21
155	PREMIER LEAGUE L: ASTON VILLA/MAN CITY	NBCSN	Jan 20, 21
131	LALIGA SANTANDER MRQ-L: ALAVES VS. REAL	BEIN ESP	Jan 23, 21
120	LALIGA SANTANDER MRQ-L: ELCHE VS. BARCELONA	BEIN ESP	Jan 24, 21
111	LALIGA SANTANDER-L: ATLETICO VS. VALENCIA	BEIN ESP	Jan 24, 21
106	PREMIER LEAGUE GOAL ZONE	NBCSN	Jan 20, 21
106	PREMIER LEAGUE GOAL ZONE	NBCSN	Jan 21, 21
105	LIGA MX SUN: TOLUCA / NECAXA	TUDN	Jan 24, 21
94	PREMIER LEAGUE GOAL ZONE	NBCSN	Jan 19, 21
83	PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO	NBCSN	Jan 19, 21
78	FUTBOL CENTRAL L	TUDN	Jan 21, 21
61	LIGA MX EN 60	TUDN	Jan 23, 21

Data Source: ShowBuzz Daily

Compiled by: Helltown

US Cable Soccer Viewership, Jan 12-18

Fox Deportes and Liga MX top the list this week, while the Super Copa on ESPN makes an appearance.

US Cable Soccer programs: Jan 12-18
Viewers (000)	Event/Game	Network	Date
657	LIGA MX: MONTERREY VS AMERICA	FOX DEP	Jan 16, 21
403	PREMIER LEAGUE L: TOTTENHAM/SHEFFIELD	NBCSN	Jan 17, 21
373	PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO	NBCSN	Jan 17, 21
361	PREMIER LEAGUE L: NEWCASTLE/ARSENAL	NBCSN	Jan 18, 21
345	SUPER COPA FOOTBALL  L: BARCELONA/BILBAO	ESPN	Jan 17, 21
319	PREMIER LEAGUE L: BRIGHTON/LEEDS	NBCSN	Jan 16, 21
297	LIGA MX SAT: CRUZ AZUL / PUEBLA	TUDN	Jan 16, 21
283	LIGA MX L: JUAREZ / TIJUANA	TUDN	Jan 15, 21
277	PREMIER LEAGUE L: MAN UNITED/BURNLEY	NBCSN	Jan 12, 21
270	PREMIER LEAGUE L: FULHAM/TOTTENHAM	NBCSN	Jan 13, 21
247	PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO	NBCSN	Jan 16, 21
228	PREMIER LEAGUE L: PALACE/ARSENAL	NBCSN	Jan 14, 21
192	LIGA MX L: NECAXA / SAN LUIS	TUDN	Jan 15, 21
184	PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO	NBCSN	Jan 13, 21
182	PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO	NBCSN	Jan 16, 21
173	LIGA MX L: LEON / PACHUCA	TUDN	Jan 18, 21
171	PREMIER LEAGUE L: BRIGHTON/MAN CITY	NBCSN	Jan 13, 21
154	PREMIER LEAGUE L: WEST BROM/WOLVES	NBCSN	Jan 16, 21
149	LIGA MX L: QUERETARO / ATLAS	TUDN	Jan 17, 21
116	LIGA MX SUN: UNAM / MAZATLAN	TUDN	Jan 17, 21
111	LIGA MX: SANTOS VS TIGRES	FOX DEP	Jan 17, 21
84	LIGA PREMIER: FULHAM VS CHELSEA	UNIVERSO	Jan 16, 21
84	SUPER COPA    L: REAL SOCIEDAD/BARCELONA	ESPN DEP	Jan 13, 21
79	FUTBOL CENTRAL L	TUDN	Jan 17, 21
74	SUPER COPA: BARCELONA/ATHLETIC BILBAO	ESPN DEP	Jan 17, 21
56	PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO	NBCSN	Jan 17, 21

Molino To Crew (9 years after I spotted him)

Way back in the early days of evaluating players (here and there) Helltown plucked Kevin Molino out of the USL blender in 2012. Albeit, as MVP of the league that year, it wasn't terribly difficult to do so. I'll put that feather in my cap, however, because you can count on one finger how many people not in the USL that gave him any look. Also, he hit my radar a number of times since then, including making a top Left Mids post just last year.

Molino's Helltown Rank for Mids was 15th, which makes him a top player. SofaScore has him at 7.39 based on performances last year (which is good). WhoScored was a bit messy last year, but he is consistently above the magical 7.0 there (top 25% ish of players.

You get the idea. He's a solid MLS player and can play pretty much anywhere in the midfield. He's likely backfilling Youness Mokhtar's spot on the payroll, er, roster. Not exactly sure what happened to Mokhtar towards the end of the Crew season. Best guess is that he was on a one-year deal and knew he wasn't getting re-signed. He had a couple epically bad "don't care" apps last year. He's currently without a club.

Anywho. Nice to see Molino getting a chance with an MLS Cup-winning side who is opening a new stadium. He's earned it.

US Cable Soccer Viewership, Jan 5-11

Liga MX is back and leads the way with BEIN Sport Espanol La Liga matches once again making the list.

The Premier League off for the FA Cup (games on ESPN+ thus far).

The top 10 of 2021 to date includes 7 EPL games, 3 Liga MX.

US Cable Soccer programs: Jan 5-11
Viewers (000)	Event/Game	Network	Date
390	LIGA MX SAT 2: AMERICA VS. SAN LUIS	TUDN	Jan 9, 21
373	LIGA MX L: PUEBLA / GUADALAJARA	TUDN	Jan 8, 21
309	LIGA MX SAT: TIGRES / LEON	TUDN	Jan 9, 21
307	LIGA MX: SANTOS VS CRUZ AZUL	FOX DEP	Jan 10, 21
245	LIGA MX L: MAZATLAN / NECAXA	TUDN	Jan 8, 21
162	LIGA MX L: PACHUCA / FC JUAREZ	TUDN	Jan 11, 21
161	LALIGA SANTANDER MRQ-L: OSASUNA VS. REAL	BEIN ESP	Jan 9, 21
146	LIGA MX EF SAT: ATLAS VS. MONTERREY	TUDN	Jan 9, 21
134	LIGA MX SUN: TOLUCA / QUERETARO	TUDN	Jan 10, 21
132	LALIGA SANTANDER MRQ-L: GRANADA VS. BARCA	BEIN ESP	Jan 9, 21
105	LALIGA SANTANDER MRQ-L: ATHLETIC VS. BARCA	BEIN ESP	Jan 6, 21
96	LIGA MX: TIJUANA VS PUMAS	FOX DEP	Jan 8, 21
87	ITALIAN SERIE A FTBLL  L: AC MILAN/JUVENTUS	ESPN2	Jan 6, 21
79	FUTBOL CENTRAL L	TUDN	Jan 11, 21
79	LALIGA SANTANDER MRQ-L: GRANADA VS. BARCA	BEIN	Jan 9, 21
60	FUTBOL CENTRAL L	TUDN	Jan 8, 21
49	FUTBOL CENTRAL L	TUDN	Jan 9, 21

Data source: ShowBuzzDaily. 

US Cable Soccer Viewership, Dec 29-Jan 4

Happy New Year. Viewership of soccer programs on US cable. 

The Premier League on NBCSN leads the way. Notably, with the top two matches here landing in the top 20 (6th and 11th place, respectively) most-watched since the beginning of 2020. Yet another sign of continued growth for the league.

BEIN Sport Españo jumping in with five matches. The cable channel is only in about 18 million homes (ESPN, Fox Sports + 80 million).

Viewers (000)	Event/Game	Network	Date
680	PREMIER LEAGUE L: MAN CITY/CHELSEA	NBCSN	3-Jan-21
603	PREMIER LEAGUE L: ASTON VILLA/MAN UNITED	NBCSN	1-Jan-21
545	PREMIER LEAGUE L: WOLVES/MAN UNITED	NBCSN	29-Dec-20
424	PREMIER LEAGUE L: LIVERPOOL/NEWCASTLE	NBCSN	30-Dec-20
415	PREMIER LEAGUE L: WEST HAM/EVERTON	NBCSN	1-Jan-21
394	PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO	NBCSN	1-Jan-21
393	PREMIER LEAGUE L: ARSENAL/BRIGHTON	NBCSN	29-Dec-20
385	PREMIER LEAGUE L: SHEFFIELD/PALACE	NBCSN	2-Jan-21
378	PREMIER LEAGUE L: LIVERPOOL/SOUTHAMPTON	NBCSN	4-Jan-21
353	PREMIER LEAGUE L: LEICESTER/NEWCASTLE	NBCSN	3-Jan-21
291	PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO	NBCSN	2-Jan-21
260	PREMIER LEAGUE GOAL ZONE	NBCSN	29-Dec-20
247	PREMIER LEAGUE L: LEEDS/TOTTENHAM	NBCSN	2-Jan-21
239	PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO	NBCSN	2-Jan-21
187	PREMIER LEAGUE GOAL ZONE	NBCSN	3-Jan-21
185	PREMIER LEAGUE GOAL ZONE	NBCSN	1-Jan-21
157	PREMIER LEAGUE GOAL ZONE	NBCSN	Dec 30, 20
143	PREMIER LEAGUE GOAL ZONE	NBCSN	Jan 4, 21
136	LALIGA SANTANDER MRQ-L: HUESCA/BARCA	BEIN ESP	Jan 3, 21
125	LALIGA SANTANDER MRQ-L: REAL MADRID/CELTA	BEIN ESP	Jan 2, 21
98	PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO	NBCSN	Dec 30, 20
88	PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO	NBCSN	Jan 3, 21
87	LALIGA SANTANDER MRQ-L: ELCHE/REAL MADRID	BEIN ESP	Dec 30, 20
59	LALIGA SANTANDER-L: ALAVES/ATLETICO	BEIN ESP	Jan 3, 21
51	ITALIAN SERIE A FTBLL  L: INTER MILAN/CROTONE	ESPN2	Jan 3, 21
48	LALIGA SANTANDER MRQ-L: REAL MADRID/CELTA	BEIN	Jan 2, 21
34	LALIGA SANTANDER-L: BETIS/SEVILLA	BEIN ESP	Jan 2, 21

Source: ShowBuzzy Daily