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/Game | Network | Date |
| 760 | PREMIER LEAGUE L: MAN UNITED/MAN CITY | NBCSN | Mar 7, 21 |
| 433 | PREMIER LEAGUE L: FULHAM/LIVERPOOL | NBCSN | Mar 7, 21 |
| 407 | PREMIER LEAGUE L: WOLVES/ASTON VILLA | NBCSN | Mar 6, 21 |
| 391 | LIGA MX SAT 2: MAZATLAN / CHIVAS GUAD | TUDN | Mar 6, 21 |
| 378 | PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO | NBCSN | Mar 7, 21 |
| 375 | PREMIER LEAGUE L: SOUTHAMPTON/SHEFFIELD | NBCSN | Mar 6, 21 |
| 364 | PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO | NBCSN | Mar 6, 21 |
| 314 | LIGA MX SAT: AMERICA / LEON | TUDN | Mar 6, 21 |
| 309 | LIGA MX: TIJUANA VS AMERICA | FOX DEP | Mar 3, 21 |
| 305 | LIGA MX PT SUN: UNAM VS. CRUZ AZUL | TUDN | Mar 7, 21 |
| 299 | PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO | NBCSN | Mar 7, 21 |
| 274 | LIGA MX L: PUEBLA / TIGRES | TUDN | Mar 5, 21 |
| 258 | PREMIER LEAGUE L: ARSENAL/BURNLEY | NBCSN | Mar 6, 21 |
| 256 | PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO | NBCSN | Mar 6, 21 |
| 254 | LIGA MX L | TUDN | Mar 2, 21 |
| 251 | LIGA MX WED: QUERETARO VS CHIVAS GUAD | TUDN | Mar 3, 21 |
| 239 | PREMIER LEAGUE L: WOLVES/MANCHESTER CITY | NBCSN | Mar 2, 21 |
| 231 | LALIGA SANTANDER MRQ-L: ATLETICO VS. REAL | BEIN ESP | Mar 7, 21 |
| 230 | LIGA MX L: PACHUCA / TIJUANA | TUDN | Mar 8, 21 |
| 227 | LIGA MX L: ATLETICO SAN LUIS / TOLUCA | TUDN | Mar 5, 21 |
| 221 | PREMIER LEAGUE L: EVERTON/CHELSEA | NBCSN | Mar 8, 21 |
| 206 | LIGA MX L: UNAM / SANTOS LAGUNA | TUDN | Mar 4, 21 |
| 194 | LIGA MX L: TIGRES / TOLUCA | TUDN | Mar 2, 21 |
| 187 | PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO | NBCSN | Mar 6, 21 |
| 157 | LIGA MX WED 2: CRUZ AZUL VS. MAZATLAN | TUDN | Mar 3, 21 |
| 156 | LALIGA SANTANDER MRQ-L: OSASUNA VS. BARCA | BEIN ESP | Mar 6, 21 |
| 153 | PREMIER LEAGUE L: NEWCASTLE/WEST BROM | NBCSN | Mar 7, 21 |
| 149 | PREMIER LEAGUE L: LEICESTER/BURNLEY | NBCSN | Mar 3, 21 |
| 143 | LIGA MX: SANTOS VS NECAXA | FOX DEP | Mar 7, 21 |
| 142 | LIGA MX L: NECAXA / PACHUCA | TUDN | Mar 4, 21 |
| 138 | MEXICAN FIRST DIVISION L: CRUZ AZUL/MAZATLAN | ESPN DEP | Mar 3, 21 |
| 126 | LIGA MX L: ATLAS / FC JUAREZ | TUDN | Mar 6, 21 |
| 120 | FUTBOL PICANTE L | ESPN DEP | Mar 3, 21 |
| 104 | MEXICAN FIRST DIVISION L | ESPN DEP | Mar 6, 21 |
| 102 | PREMIER LEAGUE GOAL ZONE | NBCSN | Mar 2, 21 |
| 95 | FUTBOL CENTRAL L | TUDN | Mar 7, 21 |
| 87 | PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO | NBCSN | Mar 2, 21 |
| 77 | GERMAN BUNDESLIGA L: BAYERN/BORUSSIA D | ESPN DEP | Mar 6, 21 |
| 73 | LIGA MX L: ATLAS / CLUB ATLETICO DE SAN LUIS | TUDN | Mar 2, 21 |
| 59 | LIGA PREMIER EXTRA | UNIVERSO | Mar 6, 21 |
| 57 | FUTBOL PICANTE L | ESPN DEP | Mar 6, 21 |
