Last week saw 38 different soccer games/events on TV. Let's take a look at the highlights and the lowlights.
Notes:
• The USA Network posts a record for the Premier League on cable. It also managed to top a full slate of broadcast tv games from the Champions League, US Women, and MLS.
• The PL is up +12% over last year on cable TV (flat over 2020).
• Liga MX is +2% vs last year on TUDN. Worth noting that they are down 20% from 2020.
• MLS is down 30-50% across the board. In fact, they've almost lost more viewers this year than they average in people watching (wrap you head around that) >>> FOX is down -107k avg 4 games... ESPN down -206k, 4 gms... FS1 down -68k, 6 gms.
• The UEFA Champions league is settling in at around 700-800k range. The City v Atletico match averaged a bit less than the rest. Around 20% of the total viewership number (combined) comes from Span-lang (TUDN) and pushes these matches up to around 1.0m viewers.
• Not big on US Soccer bringing in teams like Uzbekistan just to pummel them. Maybe in the future, they can split up teams or do week-long combined training events to grow the sport. Anything besides inviting teams to come to play only to kick the crap out of them on national television.
• The USWNT on big FOX means that MLS is pushed down yet again by another soccer event on broadcast TV. The Prem, Champions League, NWSL, and now the USWNT top MLS on traditional broadcast television (table at the bottom of page).
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| US Cable Viewership: Soccer Programs Apr 5-11 |
| | | |
| Viewers (000) | Event/Game | Network | Date |
| 1,088 | PREMIER LEAGUE L: LIVERPOOL/MAN CITY | USA | 4/10 |
| 850 | UEFA CHAMP LEAGUE-QTRS: CHELSEA VS REAL | CBS | 4/6 |
| 750 | NBC PREMIER LEAGUE: TOTTENHAM AT VILLA | NBC | 4/9 |
| 658 | UEFA CHAMP LEAGUE-QTRS: MAN CITY V ATLETICO | CBS | 4/5 |
| 539 | PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO | USA | 4/10 |
| 477 | MLS SOCCER: LA GALAXY VS LAFC | FOX | 4/9 |
| 450 | MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER: CHARLOTTE V ATLANTA | ABC | 4/10 |
| 438 | WOMEN'S INT'L FRIENDLY: USA VS UZBEKISTAN | FOX | 4/9 |
| 407 | PREMIER LEAGUE L: CHELSEA/SOUTHAMPTON | USA | 4/9 |
| 391 | LIGA MX SAT 2: AMERICA / JUAREZ | TUDN | 4/9 |
| 334 | PREMIER LEAGUE L: MAN UNITED/EVERTON | USA | 4/9 |
| 328 | LIGA MX SAT: TOLUCA / CHIVAS | TUDN | 4/9 |
| 321 | PREMIER LEAGUE GOAL ZONE | USA | 4/10 |
| 315 | PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO | USA | 4/9 |
| 296 | PREMIER LEAGUE L: BURNLEY/NORWICH | USA | 4/10 |
| 283 | CONCACAF CHAMP LEAG TUE: UNAM/CRUZ AZUL | TUDN | 4/5 |
| 268 | PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO | USA | 4/9 |
| 252 | MLS REGULAR SEASON: MIAMI/NEW ENGLAND | ESPN | 4/9 |
| 237 | LIGA MX FRI 2: MAZATLAN / CRUZ AZUL | TUDN | 4/8 |
| 234 | UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE 1: QF: FRANKFURT BARCA | TUDN | 4/7 |
| 233 | PREMIER LEAGUE L: WOLVES/NEWCASTLE | USA | 4/8 |
| 226 | LIGA MX L: ATLAS / NECAXA | TUDN | 4/7 |
| 212 | LIGA MX L: QUERETARO / TIGRES | TUDN | 4/10 |
| 201 | UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: QF: CHELSEA/ REAL | TUDN | 4/6 |
| 194 | LIGA MX L: CLUB ATLETICO SAN LUIS / LEON | TUDN | 4/9 |
| 184 | LIGA MX FRI: PUEBLA VS UNAM | TUDN | 4/8 |
| 173 | LIGA MX L: PACHUCA / TIGRES UANL | TUDN | 4/7 |
| 170 | LIGA MX L: PACHUCA / TIJUANA | TUDN | 4/11 |
| 161 | UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: MAN CITY/ATLETICO | TUDN | 4/5 |
| 152 | CONCACAF LC – L: SF: SEATTLE/NYCFC | TUDN | 4/6 |
| 151 | CONCACAF CHAMP LEAGUE:SEATTLE/NYCFC | FS1 | 4/6 |
| 146 | MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER: LA GALAXY VS LAFC | FOX DEP | 4/9 |
| 135 | LIGA MX L: TOLUCA / MONTERREY | TUDN | 4/6 |
| 135 | PREMIER LG LIVE STUDIO | USA | 4/10 |
| 116 | FUTBOL CENTRAL L | TUDN | 4/6 |
| 110 | PREMIER LEAGUE GOAL ZONE | USA | 4/8 |
| 106 | MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER L: AUSTIN/MINNESOTA | FS1 | 4/10 |
| 98 | UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE: RB LEIPZIG / ATALANATA | TUDN | 4/7 |
sources: showbuzzdaily, spoilertv, helltown
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Soccer avgs on TV (Eng-lan). Broadcast events are labeled.
000s : Program/event
941 : Premier League - Broadcast
869 : World Cup Qualifier - Concacaf
776 : UEFA Champions League - Broadcast
484 : FA Women's Super League
456 : NWSL - Broadcast
438 : USWNT - Broadcast
437 : MLS - Broadcast
323 : Premier League
295 : USMNT
215 : USWNT
180 : General Soccer
168 : MLS
158 : World Cup Qualifier - UEFA
123 : Concacaf Champions League
118 : FIFA Club World Cup
38 : Ligue 1
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ESPN AND MLS ON SUDAY
Chris Kessell asked if I could pull the average viewership by the hour for ESPN on Sundays to compare it to how MLS does in those hours.
MLS has played 17 times on ESPN on Sunday since the beginning of 2021.
So, what I did was take a snapshot by the hour of how ESPN does without MLS programming (in blue) and then put what MLS averages right beside it (in orange).
