SHARE TWEET . The league said Thursday that MLS’ viewership this month is up 7% over July 2019, which counts for something because the league traditionally gets its biggest spotlight in mid-summer. ESPN’s coverage of the 2010 and 2014 World Cups were largely celebrated. How can you say that when Premier League and the Mexican league get over 1 million viewers pretty regularly for their games. Taking a lower bid then would have most likely resulted in current /lowered future TV rights money, Now MLS is probably looking at individual broadcast partners paying possibly $100mil+ each next TV deal. But who really outside of a dedicated EPL watcher wants to watch a Man City-Huddersfield game? They already have a league to send teams to. MLS seems inauthentic to the US soccer snobs who spend their Saturday and Sunday mornings supporting teams half a world away that they no connection too. He has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Guardian and several other publications. Over the last couple of decades with the rise of regional sports networks Major League Baseball’s business model has morphed from a heavy reliance on post season TV money to supplying thousands of hours of programming to regional sports networks, who are willing to pay for the game inventory that helps fill its broadcast schedule. If they would’ve taken lower they probably be just getting already what they have now in 2022. (the ones that lost in the past was because it was preseason and they didn’t care so they let them win). FOX Soccer continues to invest in soccer, having broadcast the last men’s and women’s World Cup, as well as the rights to the next World Cups in 2022 and 2026. It’s just not something that the majority can take to… it’s got a good, although small, dedicated following but it will never be big in the US. Number of teams are expanding. I still see MLS Direct Kick as on optional add on via my cable and know it is more expensive than ESPN+, will Direct Kick be going away? When Ian Darke left, he emerged, in my opinion as the best. Ok and is was the opposite last year when MLS teams had a winning record against Liga MX sides head to head it happens. Yes, there are plenty of success stories, for sure. This is the time of the season when MLS games should see a rise in viewership because the games are more meaningful. All professional sports outside of the NFL is much more local than national. Instead of focusing on adding teams they should tell Bob Kraft, who I doubt watches highlights of Revolution games, to either sell the team are start giving a f**k. Mr. Kraft was too busy getting happy endings in Florida. Yet Sunday’s viewing numbers aren’t an isolated problem either. While ESPN had some enviable games (in particular, the derby between Portland-Seattle), FOX Soccer televised the golden goose of the bunch — a highly anticipated clash between LAFC and LA Galaxy, a rivalry dubbed “El Trafico.”. No games should be on same time as NFL. Next time, don’t schedule games when El Clasico is on. By design, the MLS setup turned that game into one and done for the season. No other sport is on in the morning besides Soccer. It makes the screen too ugly. broadcast viewership for the 2018 season, which concluded on Sunday, is up 6 percent year-over-year, reaching more than 26 million viewers across all networks. Just like Jasinho said. Sports Business Journal is a trade publication. Over at ESPN, the debut of Jon Champion as the new MLS lead commentator failed to make an impact for the DC United-Atlanta United game. The soccer I watch is MLS and Premier League. I think it is safe to say that in the history of American soccer leagues, not one CURRENT world class player has ever played in a league in this country. MLB released a report Monday detailing fan engagement and participation during the last six months, plus other notable They need content to fill their air time, and for the RSN’s without the local MLB contract in that market it becomes even more difficult to fill in the Summer. Same for FA Cup matches. Put simply, MLS has a TV ratings problem, and it’s FOX Soccer. Last but not least, he got engaged during half-time of a MLS game. I wait for the day when ESPN takes the World Cup and MLS back from them. And yet, despite an on-field product that was truly exhilarating (I can’t disagree with Lalas, the game was magnificent), they fell well short of the standard set by ESPN. Used to be May and August. I do think the league is at a much better place standard wise to benefit much more from NBC then back in the day. In the case of college sports they usually have the better conferences too. I am too young to remember when the US didn’t have a pro league and all the US soccer fans watched European soccer but prayed for the day they would have a US league so they could attend matches and have a hometown team to really have a connection to. About the author Jon Lewis Dr. Jon Lewis (aka Paulsen) has been covering the sports media industry on a daily basis since 2006 as the founder and sole writer of Sports Media Watch. Boys chatting about players’ lives and careers instead of the game before them as it unfolds. I see MLS on ESPN Mexico, and from all over the continent the fans send greetings on Twitter. I’d watch more but they conflict with these. 25 – 54 is the key demographic that advertisers target, which explains why MLS sold out ad inventory. Let the game breathe and use that tone for important parts of the game. Sour milk to French Vanilla ice cream. In 2017, it was 509,000 viewers for LA Galaxy-Dallas. And more importantly from the same article: “This season also marked the third consecutive year that ad inventory for MLS matches was sold out. I agree with a past piece you wrote that Leon Osman shows great promise. Make minor tweaks to the format of the league and there you go. So in the quotes that you included above, you’ll notice that they spun the numbers to not mention ESPN’s average TV ratings and instead focused on growth from ESPN Deportes and in the 25-54 demographic. If NFL was on regional channels instead I wonder if their national TV numbers would be as impressive for the games chosen for actual national television. I read your piece when I found the news about Champion. • Bundesliga TV schedule • Championship TV schedule • Champions League TV schedule • Copa Libertadores TV schedule • Eredivisie TV schedule • Europa League TV schedule • FA Cup TV schedule • Gold Cup TV Schedule • International Champions Cup TV Schedule • La Liga TV schedule • League Cup TV Schedule • Liga MX TV schedule • Ligue Un TV schedule • MLS TV schedule • Premier League TV schedule • Primeira Liga TV schedule • Russian Premier League TV schedule • Scottish Premiership TV schedule • Serie A TV schedule • Superliga Argentina TV schedule • Women’s soccer TV schedule • Women’s Super League TV schedule, • beIN SPORTS Connect • beIN SPORTS XTRA • DAZN • ESPN+ • Fanatiz • fuboTV • NBC Sports App • Paramount+ • Peacock • Sling TV • Telemundo Deportes en Vivo • Vidgo, • beIN SPORTS • CBS Sports • ESPN • ESPN Deportes • FOX Sports • GolTV • NBC Sports • Telemundo • TUDN • Universo • Soccer TV ratings • DirecTV vs. • Bundesliga TV schedule • Championship TV schedule • Champions League TV schedule • Copa Libertadores TV schedule • Eredivisie TV schedule • Europa League TV schedule • FA Cup TV schedule • Gold Cup TV Schedule • International Champions Cup TV Schedule • La Liga TV schedule • League Cup TV Schedule • Liga MX TV schedule • Ligue Un TV schedule • MLS TV schedule • Premier League TV schedule • Primeira Liga TV schedule • Russian Premier League TV schedule • Scottish Premiership TV schedule • Serie A TV schedule • Superliga Argentina TV schedule • Women’s soccer TV schedule • Women’s Super League TV schedule, • beIN SPORTS Connect • beIN SPORTS XTRA • DAZN • ESPN+ • Fanatiz • fuboTV • NBC Sports App • Paramount+ • Peacock • Sling TV • Telemundo Deportes en Vivo • Vidgo, • beIN SPORTS • CBS Sports • ESPN • ESPN Deportes • FOX Sports • GolTV • NBC Sports • Telemundo • TUDN • Universo • Soccer TV ratings • DirecTV vs. John, good feedback. Fox is garbage and harms the beautiful game in this country. Major League Soccer has a TV ratings problem, and it’s named FOX Soccer. I live in New Jersey, a NY Red Bulls fan. Then there is coverage for a preseason Celtics game (NBA) which includes pre and post along with the game from 5:30 to 9:30. The 75k-150 delta in viewership isn’t a blip on the radar when the late NFL window and Sunday night game range from 20mln to 25mln. Really popular in certain areas of the country like the Northwest. Considering not so long ago the league was down to ten teams, struggling to average 14,000 per game, had onl1 soccer specific stadium, and all their national coverage were effectively time buys, I would say they’ve grown tremendously. I always mute it. Starting in early March is absurd, as is ending around Thanksgiving. MLS draws better on Friday Night than Sunday… during the NFL season. While I don’t think they sever a partnership with FOX due to World Cup synergy, I think MLS would be stupid not to offer NBC a package of some kind at whatever reasonable price especially since there will be alot of added inventory of games due to expansion 30-32 teams. The three-year agreement covered English-language broadcasting for the 1996–1998 seasons, and committed 10 games on ESPN, 25 on ESPN2, and the MLS Cup on ABC. I remember the day they won coverage of the WC and MLS. F*** MLS tho really. Here is one more reason why MLS is not appealing: in the 1st leg of CONCACAF Champions League Quarter-finals, overall record of four US teams (New York RB, Houston Dynamo, Sporting KC, Atlanta United) is 0-4, goal differential 1-9. The next time MLS is up for renewal, just go to mostly ESPN+ and be done with it. This could easily lead to an ESPN deal where they broadcast some matches on linear TV, but most of the league’s local and out-of-market offerings all on ESPN+. Or make new TV deals and make this possible. SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and streaming. That’s alot to try and overcome. He talks to often in a raised voice and he can talk on and on and on. At the same time, MLS has expanded the league into several new TV markets, but the league has still not … But they don’t go against major American sports and are shown at times where the majority of people are not thinking about sports. ESPN and ESPN2 had their lowest audience for MLS games since 2014. While the viewing numbers were up for the over-the-air FOX network, it was only because they aired the games immediately after World Cup matches when TV sets were left on. Problem 1: MLS has too many teams, too many games. It’s just MLS it’s lagging, but they will find a way soon. NEW YORK (AP) Major League Soccer's attendance is up and fan interest is booming, even if television broadcasts are far less popular and some young Americans would rather play in Europe. Arlo White is OK, but not in Champion’s league (pun intended). I just have difficulty believing you are basing that on objective data. UDN has one but it’s in Spanish. The 2019 season was the 24th in MLS history, and was contested by 24 teams organized into the eastern and western conferences. Would Euroleague basketball have good ratings in the U.S.? FOX has certainly come a long way from the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final, where they actually ran a segment comparing “football” to American football” (which is, frankly, insulting to an audience that wanted genuine analysis of two of the premier teams in world soccer), but regardless, they continue to struggle in both the ratings and amongst public perception. Yea, 9am EST (6am PST) is a big advantage on a weekend day is big advantage….. Also Formula 1, rugby, cricket, etc, on live at the same times provide no alternatives. People are basically forced to watch the Premier League because what else would they do? 1) Since pro/rel seems like it’s never going to happen and expansion seems never ending, move to a regional set up (Northeast, Southeast, West Coast, Southwest, etc) and then create a domestic “Champions League” type tournament to run concurrent with those leagues. And I am surprised that all Champions League games with English teams are not on a “free” channel. Enter MLS. That is a sad story. Publisher of World Soccer Talk, Christopher Harris founded the site in 2005. FS1 and ESPN were down for 2018 compared to 2017. Even their MLB games aren’t exclusive(local broadcast) and the bigger games are normally pulled to Big FOX. I miss Kyle Martino doing color commentary from the sidelines. For ESPN, viewership in the 25-54 demographic is up 5 percent, and ESPN Deportes saw its best-ever viewership for MLS. Regarding Jon Champion leaving, here’s a piece I wrote about the news and my two cents about it: https://worldsoccertalk.com/2018/12/11/jon-champion-departure-england-leaves-gaping-hole-premier-league-commentaries/. Need better product, more prompting the league, more games on FOX instead of FS1 and schedule games on Friday nights. NBC never said “screw domestic soccer.” They were interested in bidding to renew the MLS TV rights they had, but MLS wanted inflated rights fees for the coverage that NBC could not justify paying. And we’ve asked them directly. Major League Soccer has kicked off 2019 right where it finished the 2018 regular season with disappointing TV viewing numbers on English-language television across both ESPN and FOX Sports, and a surprising drop in viewership on the Spanish-language Univision Deportes. Yes, MLS TV ratings last season were up 6% but only because of (1) Univision’s numbers that grew by 16% and that (2) the viewing numbers were artificially inflated on the over-the-air FOX network for games piggybacked after World Cup matches. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. I tuned in on Sunday to see Jon Champion make his MLS debut. By 2021 they will have 27 teams. I like getting up early and having sports on. I’ll keep watching the league and hoping it grows and helps facilitates the growth of the sport in the US. The Northeast should be the same but the New England Revolution is probably the worst run club in the league. While some may think 9 or 10am matches are a detriment, I believe it’s very much part of the appeal. These top 10 lists are compiled based on Nielsen's SVOD and TV ratings. The European leagues have the benifit of virtually no competition from other sports when their matches are scheduled. Since they lost UCL and EL barely watch FS1 or FS2 now unless tuning into a random Bundesliga match if the Serie A or La Liga offerings at the same time are boring or not competitive (also HT or between match windows). Thanks. Most of the hardcore MLS supporters seem to actually have a deep dislike of people that support European teams “euro snobs” etc.. If I didn’t check daily for soccer schedules I wouldn’t have known it was opening weekend. And although those of us who read this site may think otherwise, soccer is still very much a niche product in this country. I was sad when they basically said screw domestic soccer. Cavaliers-Wizards averaged a 0.5 rating and 825,000 viewers on ESPN NBA Friday last week, down 40% in ratings and 39% in viewership from last year (Thunder-Wizards: 0.9, 1.36M) and down 54% and 53% respectively from the same matchup in 2017 (1.15, 1.76M). For 2017 to 2019, that’s a 30% drop in viewership. By … Derek Rae on FS1 (LAGalaxy vs Fire) and Jon Champion on ESPN for D.C.-Atlanta. After all, MLS pundits such as Alexi Lalas have been trying to drive home the narrative of parity in MLS for years. Odd choice and not something their viewers normally tune in to see, but it is being shown live. The Canadian Football League scored a win over Major League Soccer. It dropped to 469,000 for Houston-Atlanta in 2018, while 2019 had 355,000 viewers for Orlando-New York. Meanwhile liquid water is wet, the sky is blue on a clear day, and FIFA is still as corrupt as the mob. I am an avid soccer fan. I see Fox getting out of soccer broadcasting since losing the Bundesliga to ESPN. in my experience, those who call others snobs typically are snobs themselves . They have a partnership and will show about 25 more games on Twitter this 2019 season. Viewership on the Fox network, which televised five games, many of which were tied to World Cup coverage, was up 59 percent year-over-year, averaging 988,000 viewers. The local TV ratings are also bad, so bad in fact that some teams in the league actually give their rights to the local RSN for free. The 24-team ESPNFC fantasy league I manage keeps me connected to the EPL. And TV ratings for the first three game weeks of the 2019 season were down 27%. Christopher Harris April 25, 2019 Leagues: Major League Soccer, TV Ratings 20 Comments Photo credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports In the same city that Major League Soccer calls home, which is also the number one TV market in the United States, MLS’s two teams in the New York region have been a TV ratings disaster. This is why I loved beIN so much. Aside from the NFL and playoffs/finals in other leagues, most sports viewership is for local games without much interest in the ‘national’ game if their team isn’t involved. Compared to the 2018 opening weekend, the viewing numbers for the nationally televised games this past weekend were: • Down 24% on Univision for Orlando-New York City, • Down 13% on ESPN for DC United-Atlanta United, • Up just 6% for LA Galaxy-Chicago and Seattle-Cincinnati on FS1. for fubo Latino Package, Includes TUDN, GolTV, Univision, beIN SPORTS and more, Starting price: $7.99/mo. Winnipeg and Calgary produced the first one million-plus television rating of the 2019 season in Sunday’s West Semi-Final. In basically every other league around the world, they’d be relegated and would have to step it up. P.S. The RSN for my MLS club has talk radio simulcasts from morning until 5PM. I watch as many games as are aired as possible. Also I’ll watch Liverpool–Burnley because I know Burnley will attack a lot and the suspense of I don’t know who’s going to win. Consider the circumstances. RE: MLS opening weekend. Values of franchises going up, TV revenue up, attendance up (even if inflated which every sports league in the world does) but the league is stagnant or regressing? 89 Regular Season Games + 1 All Star Game + 13 Post Season Games = 103 TV Total. From ratings and rights deals to the latest personnel moves, Sports Media Watch has been covering the sports media industry on a daily basis for the past 15 years. Many websites hide so much negative news to prevent the MLS from looking bad. Only then is the soccer match being shown on delay. Sleep in or watch some other sport? Worryingly, this is the third year in a row where viewing numbers for the opening weekend have dropped on Spanish-language TV. They don’t. Not sure where you are getting your numbers from regarding 2018 viewership. I do agree with you though, that once MLS teams start beating Mexican teams regularly, viewership will definitely improve. retirement league! The trend of disappointing numbers continued during Major League Soccer’s recent Rivalry Week, when the two major English-language broadcasters (FOX and ESPN) showcased some of the league’s best talent and biggest rivalries in MLS. They put out a decent product back in the day. I really only watch nationally-broadcast matches on Sundays. You could make exactly the same points about other properties that both FOX and ESPN are rightsholders to: MLB, college football specifically. Even with the NFL though, the games are on national TV but each market gets their home team on television. More soccer-specific stadiums are being built. What’s left now besides MLS…we’ll see. ), Features Serie A, Bundesliga, FA Cup, EFL & more, Also includes daily ESPN FC news & highlights show, Features Champions League, Europa League & NWSL, Starting price: $4.99/mo. The featured game on NBCSN isn’t always the one I want to watch. I’ll watch Sporting, but if it’s a choice of watching the two Los Angeles teams or a decent match up in the Premier league or La Liga, LAFC v Galaxy would be last on my list. Also miss The Xtra. American Football just sucks all the oxygen out of the sports room now. Major League Soccer has a TV ratings problem, and it’s named FOX Soccer. for fubo Latino Package, Includes TUDN, GolTV, Univision, beIN SPORTS and more, Starting price: $7.99/mo. I almost laugh! At least in two of the MLS games, they had the two of the best (in my opinion) English speaking commentators doing the games. ESPN needs to remove the intrusive ticker at the bottom of the screen. But that has not translated yet into big television ratings. ESPN and ESPN2 averaged 246,000 viewers for Major League Soccer coverage this season, up 2% from last year (241K). That game probably could been found on the msg family of networks. The broadcaster continues to fall short of the standard set by ESPN, which is interesting considering MLS is their biggest point of emphasis when it comes to club soccer. Best explanation I heard is that truth is FS1 is just a knock off channel with no original property rights with no exclusive rights and real following. Even the NBA which has a bit more national appeal than NHL and MLB is largely local outside of a few teams or matchups throughout the year (regular season). I wish there was an MLS highlights show on TV in English. GO SKC! Same problem in south jersey with any Union games. I dislike watching clubs with no ambition, Why should I give you my passion when I get none in return? Sad day it was. MLS will remain on RSN’s. Thanks, Chris. As for attendances, most people know that MLS is inflating the numbers by a huge margin to make it appear that there are far more people attending games than the actual number. Related Story Team USA Women's World Cup Final Victory Delivers 14.3M Viewers For Fox, Crushes Men's 2018 Final ABC was the exclusive home of … ESPN & Fox Sports don’t even have a highlights show for people to watch and perhaps find a little interest in the league. Enough said. Hi DT, the point I was trying to make probably wasn’t clear. FOX’s “America First” strategy towards last summer’s World Cup often left fans, myself included, disappointed that some of the biggest moments weren’t called by more reputable broadcasters. I am a neutral fan and will watch any MLS or Premier League game. Ratings roundup is a rundown of rating news from the past week and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. I have never understood why the CONCACAF Champions League is not more popular and attendance is so poor at the matches. Something different and good analysis while still entertaining on shows such as The Locker Room. To the point above, “American football sucks the oxygen out of the sports room” – couldn’t agree more. The type of people to like soccer typically also are into these sports is why I mentioned them. The Galaxy, the most successful team in MLS history, were firmly in the playoff picture, and had Zlatan Ibrahimovic. I guess if you’re a fan of NASCAR, MLB, and college sports it would be a destination, but like you said ESPN also has the same for the most part. Bars should televise MLS more and create more awareness. I guess it doesn’t matter that much other than a virtual disagreement. We’re talking about RSN’s that will air Major League Lacrosse (my market), MLS will have a home beyond streaming. The challenge that MLS faces when the current TV deal expires in 2022 is how they’ll be able to increase the revenue from the last deal. After watching the skill level throughout the Premier League, I have a tough time with the MLS. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. For example, a few weeks ago, a ramp or something at the Kansas City stadium collapsed, which caused injuries to Toluca fans and a Toluca player who will be out 4-6 weeks, I didn’t see anything about it from anybody journalist or website that covers the MLS. American businesses might be biased towards events in their own country before other countries. On the Spanish-language side, ratings were up 16% on Univision Deportes, which helped boost the overall numbers. They obviously didn’t report on it because it would make the MLS look bad. Fox game commentary is execrable. Bang! The MLS commentators are pretty solid to me. Its exceedingly rare for FS1 to beat ESPN head to head. I feel like a have a close connection to England and the team I chose to support, and I feel like if I just go there I will be accepted as part of the family. DISH comparison • Soccer channels on Xfinity, • About us • Our team • Contact us • Press coverage • Advertise. When it comes to soccer, MLS are experts at it. Or Japan league baseball? And a final note, I think that ESPN got greedy when having the ESPN Gold premium charge for EPL games beyond what NBCSN carries. The key demographic that advertisers want to reach is 18 to 34, not 25-54. From Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Panama, Honduras etc etc. Never scheduele a game in an important rivalry match!! In other TV ratings news, Manchester United versus Southampton on NBCSN on Saturday morning (10am ET) averaged 591,000 viewers, which is the best number for a Saturday Premier League match on NBCSN in 12 months. for Peacock Premium, Includes Premier League TV channel plus movies, TV shows & more. Just two weeks prior, the MLS game between LA Galaxy and Sporting KC — another game with big playoff implications — averaged only 72,000 viewers on FS1. This is part of why MLS has directed clubs not to extend any local TV deals beyond 2022 when the national TV deal expires. When up against other sports in these later day time slots it will most likely lose out. I don’t really believe that there is somebody flicking through their channels at 9am and decide to land on the EPL. LeBron James was playing for the Cavaliers back then.. First I’ve heard about it. ESPN’s highest rated broadcast, between Portland and Seattle, blew FOX Sports out of the water, racking up an impressive 304,000 viewers. Right now I think that Lee Dixon is by far, the best analyst. Rob Stone? Nowhere have I said that the league is stagnating or regressing (except for TV ratings). Instead, Sunday night’s double bill of New York Red Bulls versus DC United followed by Minnesota United against LAFC averaged just 81,500 fans on FS1. Five of the top 10 U.S. TV markets for the 2019 event were West Coast cities that overcame an 8 a.m. kickoff time. Thankfully, some of the clubs don’t need MLS to fake the numbers (such as Atlanta and Seattle). Also I bet you if a good EPL team even in its preseason played an MLS team it would KILL them easily. MLS should do scheduling on a day by themselves and air a bunch of rivalry games to promote themselves. The deal gave MLS no rights fees, but the advertising revenue was divided between the league and networks. In the Rivalry Week, FOX had the marquee matchup, with the best team and two of the best players. Go back to the old format. National TV Ratings (October 25-27, 2019) October 28, 2019 AT 03:44 PM. It can become even more popular, but think they’re expanding too fast and diluting that talent. I know there are some valid criticisms of MLS but it feels like this site goes out of its way to discredit any sign of growth that the league.shows. Update, have found it will be shown live on a local 24 hour news station. FS1 has basically cultivated a brand as being a knockoff channel. Good for them. Fox treats real Football like a cartoon. I know Derek Rae is freelancing so I don’t know how often he will be doing MLS games, but having top quality commentators helps watching the game, at least for me. There are a LOT of fans of MLS teams who are really only interested in watching the team that they support. In its place is post game coverage for the Patriots (similar post game press conferences and interviews can also be found on a different local station, so this isn’t essential). More than likely yes DISH/SLING have a little over 12 million subscribers that have been blacked out of FS1. They need a deal like the Premier League where they air on 1 network or a series of networks. Yes, when they launched about 5 years ago had the chance to become something fresh from the tired hot take shows ESPN had. More appealing. Tthe critical reception is also in Bristol’s favor. The 2019 MLB season featured increased TV and digital viewership, growing participation in baseball and softball, a combined attendance of nearly 110 million fans across Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball. Either air only on ESPN’s networks or only on Fox’s networks. Worryingly, this is the third year in a row where viewing numbers for the opening weekend have dropped on Spanish-language TV. https://worldsoccertalk.com/2018/12/11/jon-champion-departure-england-leaves-gaping-hole-premier-league-commentaries/, Official in suspended PSG-Basaksehir game banned for rest of season, EPL commentator assignments on NBC Sports, gameweek 27. Also, those 75k-150k in viewers are peanuts compared to the multimillions in viewers Fox and ESPN pull in, and compete with, for the other properties. I knew it was on, but honestly couldn’t remember what time and which network was showing what games. Or do a giveaway code during MLS games on TV and give away a trip to a regular season game, a playoff game, the All Star Game, or the Cup Final. That ranked lower than ESPN’s third (not first, or second, but third) highest rated broadcast of the weekend, a Friday night match between Orlando City and Atlanta United, which clocked in at 266,000 viewers. The match did not disappoint — a salivating 3-3 draw featuring goals from both Vela and Ibrahimovic, a result which FOX pundit Alexi Lalas dubbed “one of the great games in MLS history.”. Both games (RBNY-DCU; 79,000 viewers and MNUFC-LAFC; 84,000 viewers) had points on the line with the Red Bulls and DC United fighting it out to see who would finish as the number 4 seed, while LAFC — in their game — were chasing a Supporters’ Shield trophy at the same time that the Loons were fighting to improve their chances of finishing as the number 2 through 4 seed. That’s the reality of the situation.