Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Cable Soccer Viewership, Apr 20-26

MLS returns to ESPN for the first time in 2021 and tops this week's cable soccer ratings. LAFC v Seattle is turning out to be the best matchup for ESPN and the league. Last year's game pulled the best rating for an MLS game (pre-pandemic) since the beginning of 2020. This year's match is the 16th most viewed soccer program on cable this year.

Top 20 of 2021
12: Premier League
3: US Women's National Team
3: Olympic Qualifiers (men)
1: Liga MX
1: MLS

MLS games on FS1 continue to struggle. The LA Galaxy v NY Red Bulls, which had a nice Sunday afternoon timeslot as well as a Chicharito hattrick, only had 156k in viewership. SKC v Orlando, predictably, had 153k on Friday night.

In other events, the Premier League had a match on NBC's broadcast channel that pulled 866k (0.48) making it the most-watched soccer event in recent weeks.

Liga MX owned the top 10 with 7 events. 6 were on TUDN and 1 on Fox Deportes.

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On the top right is a histogram MLS viewership since the beginning of last year. It gives us an idea of where MLS is (generally). At the bottom of this post will be both ESPN and FS1 pulled out of the chart.
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US Cable Viewership: Soccer Programs Apr 20 - Apr 26
Viewers (000)Event/GameNetworkDate
498MLS REGULAR SEASON: LAFC v SeattleESPNApr 24, 21
434PREMIER LEAGUE L: MANCHESTER UNITED/LEEDSNBCSNApr 25, 21
391LIGA MX L: MAZATLAN / LEONTUDNApr 23, 21
390LIGA MX L: QUERETARO / JUAREZTUDNApr 25, 21
384LIGA MX SAT: ATLAS / CHIVAS GUADALAJARATUDNApr 24, 21
382LIGA MX SAT 2: TIGRES UANL / MONTERREYTUDNApr 24, 21
307LIGA MX SUN: TOLUCA / AMERICATUDNApr 25, 21
261LIGA MX: MONTERREY VS GUADALAJARAFOX DEPApr 21, 21
227LIGA MX FRI: PUEBLA VS UNAMTUDNApr 23, 21
217PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIONBCSNApr 25, 21
212PREMIER LEAGUE L: MAN CITY/ASTON VILLANBCSNApr 21, 21
212LIGA MX L: CRUZ AZUL / ATLETICO SAN LUISTUDNApr 24, 21
209PREMIER LEAGUE L: EVERTON/ARSENALNBCSNApr 23, 21
177LIGA MX L: PACHUCA / SANTOSTUDNApr 26, 21
160LALIGA SANTANDER MRQ-L: REAL VS. BETISBEIN ESPApr 24, 21
156LALIGA SANTANDER MRQ-L: VILLARREAL VS. BARCABEIN ESPApr 25, 21
156MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER L: GALAXY/RED BULLSFS1Apr 25, 21
153MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER L: SKC/ORLANDOFS1Apr 23, 21
134LALIGA SANTANDER-L: ATHLETIC VS. ATLETICOBEIN ESPApr 25, 21
130LIGA DE HONDURAS: VIDA VS MOTAGUAFOX DEPApr 21, 21
121PREMIER LEAGUE GOAL ZONENBCSNApr 21, 21
119PREMIER LEAGUE L: BURNLEY/WOLVESNBCSNApr 25, 21
117PREMIER LEAGUE SPECIALNBCSNApr 25, 21
113LIGA MX: TIJUANA VS NECAXAFOX DEPApr 23, 21
100FUTBOL CENTRAL LTUDNApr 25, 21
77LIGA MX FEMENIL L: AMERICA / CRUZ AZULTUDNApr 25, 21
72MISION EUROPATUDNApr 24, 21
61LIGA DE HONDURAS: MARATHON V REAL DE MINASFOX DEPApr 21, 21
source: showbuzzdaily












The reason the histogram looks a little funny (there should be data points to the left of the high points) is because my source for the data only captures the top 150 cable shows on the day. There are occasions where MLS doesn't meet that threshold.

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