Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Cable Soccer Viewership, Mar 2-8

There was quite a bit of soccer on cable television last week.

The Premier League match between Manchester United and City was the clear winner in this time frame. It even beat out the Bundesliga match on terrestrial, over the air ABC (576k viewers, but its 0.35 rating edged out the Manchester derby's 0.31). 

A reminder that my analysis here only extends to soccer on cable TV. There are no regular games to track on over-the-air channels so ratings there are wildly inconsistent. That said, you can take the temperature, in regards to interest, which is why I usually mention them in the summary. But using them as a measuring stick, like MLS likes to do, is a way to goose numbers. In other words, it's not within my scope (right now).

Speaking of MLS, around this time is when they normally kick-off their season. This year, however, they have pushed it back a month. I think this decision is a severe mistake. As we have seen with other leagues (below), consistency and normalcy are incredibly important to keeping interest. 

Major League Soccer has been all over the map in terms of schedule since the pandemic began. I don't believe fan interest and engagement will just "snap-back" when they start up in April. It will take a few months for ratings to ratchet back up and I'm not sure they can afford to be missing out on much more revenue before they have to make some tough decisions.

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US Cable Viewership: Soccer Programs Mar 2 - 8
Viewers (000)Event/GameNetworkDate
760PREMIER LEAGUE L: MAN UNITED/MAN CITYNBCSNMar 7, 21
433PREMIER LEAGUE L: FULHAM/LIVERPOOLNBCSNMar 7, 21
407PREMIER LEAGUE L: WOLVES/ASTON VILLANBCSNMar 6, 21
391LIGA MX SAT 2: MAZATLAN / CHIVAS GUADTUDNMar 6, 21
378PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIONBCSNMar 7, 21
375PREMIER LEAGUE L: SOUTHAMPTON/SHEFFIELDNBCSNMar 6, 21
364PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIONBCSNMar 6, 21
314LIGA MX SAT: AMERICA / LEONTUDNMar 6, 21
309LIGA MX: TIJUANA VS AMERICAFOX DEPMar 3, 21
305LIGA MX PT SUN: UNAM VS. CRUZ AZULTUDNMar 7, 21
299PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIONBCSNMar 7, 21
274LIGA MX L: PUEBLA / TIGRESTUDNMar 5, 21
258PREMIER LEAGUE L: ARSENAL/BURNLEYNBCSNMar 6, 21
256PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIONBCSNMar 6, 21
254LIGA MX LTUDNMar 2, 21
251LIGA MX WED: QUERETARO VS CHIVAS GUADTUDNMar 3, 21
239PREMIER LEAGUE L: WOLVES/MANCHESTER CITYNBCSNMar 2, 21
231LALIGA SANTANDER MRQ-L: ATLETICO VS. REALBEIN ESPMar 7, 21
230LIGA MX L: PACHUCA / TIJUANATUDNMar 8, 21
227LIGA MX L: ATLETICO SAN LUIS / TOLUCATUDNMar 5, 21
221PREMIER LEAGUE L: EVERTON/CHELSEANBCSNMar 8, 21
206LIGA MX L: UNAM / SANTOS LAGUNATUDNMar 4, 21
194LIGA MX L: TIGRES / TOLUCATUDNMar 2, 21
187PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIONBCSNMar 6, 21
157LIGA MX WED 2: CRUZ AZUL  VS. MAZATLANTUDNMar 3, 21
156LALIGA SANTANDER MRQ-L: OSASUNA VS. BARCABEIN ESPMar 6, 21
153PREMIER LEAGUE L: NEWCASTLE/WEST BROMNBCSNMar 7, 21
149PREMIER LEAGUE L: LEICESTER/BURNLEYNBCSNMar 3, 21
143LIGA MX: SANTOS VS NECAXAFOX DEPMar 7, 21
142LIGA MX L: NECAXA / PACHUCATUDNMar 4, 21
138MEXICAN FIRST DIVISION L: CRUZ AZUL/MAZATLANESPN DEPMar 3, 21
126LIGA MX L: ATLAS / FC JUAREZTUDNMar 6, 21
120FUTBOL PICANTE      LESPN DEPMar 3, 21
104MEXICAN FIRST DIVISION LESPN DEPMar 6, 21
102PREMIER LEAGUE GOAL ZONENBCSNMar 2, 21
95FUTBOL CENTRAL LTUDNMar 7, 21
87PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIONBCSNMar 2, 21
77GERMAN BUNDESLIGA L: BAYERN/BORUSSIA DESPN DEPMar 6, 21
73LIGA MX L: ATLAS / CLUB ATLETICO DE SAN LUISTUDNMar 2, 21
59LIGA PREMIER EXTRAUNIVERSOMar 6, 21
57FUTBOL PICANTE      LESPN DEPMar 6, 21




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