The most-watched broadcast last week came in the shape of a Western Conference semifinal won by Minnesota United 3-0 over favorites Sporting Kansas City. The game, which was screened by FOX, reached 815,000 average viewers and earned a 0.50 viewership rating. These were shocking news, considering that Major League Soccer games do not usually score this well in viewership ratings. Moreover, three other MLS playoff games had strong turnouts last week.
- MLS WC semifinal: Seattle Sounders 1-0 FC Dallas on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 9:30 p.m. ET through FS1 (0.16, 321,000)
- MLS WC final: Seattle Sounders 3-2 Minnesota United on Monday, Dec. 7, at 9:30 p.m. ET through FS1 (0.11, 326,000)
- MLS EC final: Columbus 1-0 New England Revolution on Sunday, Dec. 6, at 3 p.m. ET through ABC (0.27, 457,000)
As usual, TUDN was the channel with the best viewership turnout last week with 2,618,000 average viewers across seven broadcasts. Three Liga MX playoff games had incredible turnouts, with the first leg of the semifinal between Cruz Azul and Pumas UNAM leading the pack. The game earned a whopping 0.30 viewership rating and attracted 745,000 viewers. The return leg that saw Pumas overcome the first leg's result of 4-0 was the third most-watched out of the pack with 655,000 average viewers. Leon's 1-0 win over Chivas Guadalajara to seal their ticket to the final earned a 0.31 viewership rating and entertained 718,000 people.
Other than TUDN and FS1, NBC Sports Network was the only other channel that had multiple broadcasts reach Showbuzzdaily's top 150 cable originals and network finals. Most notably, Chelsea's 3-1 win over Leeds United and Manchester City's 2-0 win over Fulham on Saturday were the Premier League games that reached 400,000 average viewers. On the other hand, a FA Women's Super League game between Everton and Manchester City that ended 3-0 in favor of the Citizens made the cut with 90,000 average viewers.
TUDN
Tuesday, Dec. 1
UEFA Champions League: Atletico Madrid 1-1 Bayern Munich at 2:50 p.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.06
- Average viewership: 146,000
UEFA Champions League: Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 Real Madrid at 12:30 p.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.04
- Average viewership: 106,000
Wednesday, Dec. 2
UEFA Champions League: Manchester United 1-3 PSG at 2:52 p.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.07
- Average viewership: 172,000
Thursday, Dec. 3
Liga MX Playoffs: Cruz Azul 4-0 Pumas UNAM at 9:30 p.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.30
- Average viewership: 745,000
UEFA Europa League: AZ Alkmaar 1-1 Napoli at 2:50 p.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.03
- Average viewership: 76,000
Saturday, Dec. 5
Liga MX Playoffs: Leon 1-0 Chivas Guadalajara at 9:30 p.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.31
- Average viewership: 718,000
Sunday, Dec. 6
Liga MX Playoffs: Pumas UNAM 4-0 Cruz Azul at 7 p.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.28
- Average viewership: 655,000
NBC Sports Network
Saturday, Dec. 5
Premier League: Chelsea 3-1 Leeds United at 2:54 p.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.27
- Average viewership: 446,000
Premier League: Manchester City 2-0 Fulham at 9:57 a.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.24
- Average viewership: 442,000
Premier League: Burnley 1-1 Everton at 7:23 a.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.13
- Average viewership: 214,000
Sunday, Dec. 6
FA Women's Super League: Everton 0-3 Manchester City at 9:30 a.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.04
- Average viewership: 90,000
Monday, Dec. 7
Premier League: Brighton & Hove Albion 1-2 Southampton at 2:55 p.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.05
- Average viewership: 173,000
Fox Sports 1
Tuesday, Dec. 1
MLS Playoffs: Seattle Sounders 1-0 FC Dallas at 9:30 p.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.16
- Average viewership: 321,000
Monday, Dec. 7
MLS Playoffs: Seattle Sounders 3-2 Minnesota United at 9:30 p.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.11
- Average viewership: 326,000
FOX
Thursday, Dec. 3
MLS Playoffs: Sporting Kansas City 0-3 Minnesota United at 8:26 p.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.50
- Average viewership: 815,000
ABC
Sunday, Dec. 6
MLS Playoffs: Columbus 1-0 New England Revolution at 3 p.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.27
- Average viewership: 457,000
Bein Sports Espanol
Saturday, Dec. 5
La Liga Santander: Cadiz 1-2 Barcelona at 2:50 p.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.07
- Average viewership: 182,000
Universo
Wednesday, Dec. 2
Liga MX Playoffs: Leon 1-1 Chivas Guadalajara at 9:30 p.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.06
- Average viewership: 173,000
Galavision
Wednesday, Dec. 2
UEFA Champions League: Ferencvaros 0-3 Barcelona at 2:51 p.m. ET
- Viewership rating: 0.03
- Average viewership: 71,000
