Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Soccer Viewership: AUG 16-22

Club America and Univision top the table last week, but the Premier League fills it out.

Highlights/Lowlights:

• Club America is the driver of Liga MX interest on Univision's Liga MX Saturdays. The club accounts for 4 of the top 5 broadcasts this year and all of the games that pulled over 1 million.

• Liga MX average on broadcast is 767k overall...1.03m Games with America 661k Games without America. Nearly a 40% difference.

• Premier League continues it hot start to the 2022/23 season. Manchester City vs Newcastle pulled a strong 774k on USA (followed by a huge Goal Zone number.

• Leeds, who are being led by a trio of Americans, pulled a pretty average "Chelsea Number" for their game against, well, Chelsea. The social media buzz around Leeds is very big, but so far that hasn't translated into eyeballs on the games.

• The Bundesliga match on ESPN was a bit lower than expected (145k). Their average between the two games on pay-tv is about 15% lower than MLS's average.

• Speaking of MLS, they had one game on ESPN and a couple on FS1. The marquee match between the Galaxy and Seattle pulled close to 300k. The doubleheader on FS1 was a dud. 

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US TV Viewership: Soccer Programs Aug 16-22
Viewers (000)Event/GameNetworkDate
1,027LIGA MX SAT: AMERICA / CRUZ AZULUNIVISION8/20
774NBC PREMIER LEAGUE: ARSENAL V B'MOUTHNBC8/20
741PREMIER LEAGUE L: CITY/NEWCASTLEUSA8/21
582PREMIER LEAGUE GOAL ZONEUSA8/21
504PREMIER LEAGUE L: CHELSEA/LEEDSUSA8/21
468LIGA MX SAT: ATLAS / PUEBLAUNIVISION8/20
418LIGA MX WED 2: PACHUCA / AMERICATUDN8/17
385PREMIER LEAGUE L: WOLVES/TOTTENHAMUSA8/20
379PREMIER LEAGUE L: SOUTHAMPTON/LEICESTERUSA8/20
364PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIOUSA8/20
311PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIOUSA8/20
309LIGA MX SAT 2: AMERICA / CRUZ AZULTUDN8/20
296MLS REGULAR SEASON L: LA GALAXY/SEATTLEESPN8/19
233LIGA MX L: PUEBLA / NECAXATUDN8/16
211LIGA MX WED: TOLUCA / MONTERREYTUDN8/17
206LIGA MX SUN: PACHUCA / LEONTUDN8/21
202PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIOUSA8/20
185PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIOUSA8/21
179LIGA MX L: ATLAS / FC JUAREZTUDN8/16
167LIGA MX SAT: ATLAS / PUEBLATUDN8/20
159LIGA MX: MONTERREY VS TIGRESFOXD8/20
145GERMAN BUNDESLIGA L: DORTMUND/SV WERDERESPN8/20
145MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER L: COLUMBUS/ATLANTAFS18/21
139MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER: SKC/PORTLANDFS18/21
123LIGA MX L: QUERETARO / TIJUANATUDN8/20
123MLS WEATHER DELAY LFS18/21
120LIGA MX L: PACHUCA / LEONTUDN8/21
110LIGA MX: SANTOS VS LEONFOXD8/18
99FIFA WOM U-20 WORLD CUP L:JAPAN/FRANCEFS18/21
85MLS REGULAR SEASON    L: LA GALAXY/SEATTLE ESPND8/19
76INTL CHAMPIONS CUP   LESPN28/20
75LIGA PREMIER: BOURNEMOUTH VS ARSENALUNIVERSO8/20
55UEFA CHAMPS PLAYOFFS: DYNAMO KYIV/BENFICATUDN8/17
43LIGUE 1 – L: LILLE VS. PARIS SAINT GERMAINBEIN ESP8/21
34LIGUE 1 – L: LILLE VS. PARIS SAINT GERMAINBEIN8/21

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sources: showbuzzdaily, spoilertv, helltown (analysis)

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Leaderboards for Eng-lang viewership YTD. Pay-TV includes live streaming services such as YouTubeTV and Hulu.

000sProgram - Broadcast#000sProgram - Pay TV#
964UEFA Champions League14
864Premier League12
869World Cup Qualifier - C3
866USMNT1
490La Liga2
486MLS - ABC9
484FA Women's Super Leag1
474Bundesliga2
438USWNT1
437MLS - FOX5
434Premier League - Studio92
409NWSL4
394CONCACAF Nations Lea1
292World Cup Qual - UEFA4
263USWNT3
241EPL - Studio127
240MLS - ESPN19
229UEFA Women's Euro22
206Bundesliga2
195World Cup Qual - Playoff1
194General Soccer11
164UEFA Nations League16
155Concacaf Champs Leag7
148MLS - FS123
133USL3
118FIFA Club World Cup1
115CONCACAF U203
81Women's Copa America1
35Ligue 14

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MAJOR LEEDS SOCCER

Images from last weekend's game were all over the MLS and US soccer Twitter-sphere over the weekend. Most of the influences in that bubble were tweeting about how well the domestic players were playing their excitable coach.

Interestingly, however, the game did not pull a viewership number that matched up with the buzz. 

Why?

It's for the same reason MLS has a tough time - social interaction with the league has not matched viewership numbers for quite some time and it appears that that same issue has made its way to Leeds.

MLS fans are not soccer fans, first. They do not watch games as evidenced by TV ratings.

Protecting or showing support to MLS has almost turned into some sort of nationalistic or political signal. A "with us or against us" type approach... Defending the league means defending the American Way of doing things or perhaps even a way of tying to hold on to American Exceptionalism.

Don't like MLS? Well, you must be a "euro snob" or "pro/rel zealot." Not long ago, I was passively accused of racism and the town I live in was made fun of because it is poor - just because I didn't act the right way towards MLS TV ratings.

When you look at it that way, it's a bit unfair to MLS as they are just another soccer league and not some sort of avatar for anything. As a matter of fact, in recent years, some investor groups have started trying to detach MLS from some of these things because the online discourse gets pretty terrible.

MLS does not do well on TV and Leeds, who didn't have a breakout game vs. Chelsea, could be on the road and suffer the same fate. Liked by a rabid group more interested in discourse than actually watching them (or actually watching soccer, gasp!).

All of this highlights what many out there know, however. Fans of the PL are not the same as fans of MLS. Oil and water and the viewership numbers show it.

Will PL viewers pick up Leeds? I do expect more people to start tuning in to Leeds leading up to the World Cup this June. And perhaps after (if the US does well), but I don't think they will rise to the levels of Man United, City, Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool unless they play as well as them.

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