UEFA Champions League Final Overnights Down 28%

Posted by | 05/21/2012 at 1:11 pm

Facing tough competition, overnight ratings dropped by more than a quarter for the UEFA Champions League Final.

Coverage of the Chelsea/Bayern Munich UEFA Champions League Final drew a 1.3 overnight rating on FOX Saturday afternoon, down 28% from Barcelona/Manchester United last year (1.8), but up 18% from from Inter Milan/Bayern Munich in 2010 (1.1).

Saturday’s match faced competition from the Stanley Cup Playoffs on NBC, the NBA Playoffs on ABC, and pre-race coverage of The Preakness Stakes on NBC. Last year’s match had far less formidable competition.

For some perspective, the match still outdrew last year’s MLS Cup (0.8) by 63% — with the caveat that the MLS game aired on cable television opposite Sunday Night Football.

(Saturday’s numbers from Sports Business Daily)

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  • Stingbee30

    It is a decent number when factoring we didn’t had the big names in the Final.  We still don’t have the numbers from FOX Deportes.  My guess is that the final combined number will be around 1.5 rating and about 2.5 million or so total audience.  That is pretty impressive going against NBA Finals on ABC, Stanley Cup Playoffs on NBC, and the start of the Horse race coverage.

    • SoccerFan

      What are big names for the US audience? ManU and Barca only?