ESPN2 saw increases in viewership for coverage of Major League Soccer.
Regular season MLS coverage averaged 290,000 viewers on ESPN2, up 15% from 253,000 last year, and up slightly from 289,000 in ’07. In particular, 4 Wednesday night games averaged 355,000 viewers, 3 Friday night games averaged 323,000, 9 Saturday games averaged 293,000, 2 Sunday games averaged 279,000, and 7 Thursday games averaged 262,000.
ESPN2’s most-viewed match of the season was D.C. United/Sounders FC on June 17, which drew 550,000 viewers. ESPN2’s coverage of that match, originally scheduled to begin at 11 PM ET, did not begin until 11:57 PM due to coverage of the College World Series.
On the other end of the spectrum, the least-viewed match of the season was Crew/Fire on July 11, which drew only 140,000 viewers. 4 matches drew fewer than 200,000 viewers, while another 4 matches drew at least 400,000.
To put the numbers in perspective, Versus averaged 313,000 viewers through 8 games of the 2009-10 NHL season (with a peak of 501,000 for a Capitals/Bruins game), and 315,000 viewers for coverage of the IRL (with a peak of 478,000 for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach). Meanwhile, ESPN2 averaged 269,000 viewers for regular season coverage of the WNBA (with a peak of 449,000 for a Sky/Sparks game).
5 most-viewed regular season MLS telecasts on ESPN2
During 2009 season
| Date | Game | Net | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed., 6/17/09 | United/Sounders | ESPN2 |
550,000
|
| Fri., 10/2/09 | Fire/Galaxy | ESPN2 |
531,000
|
| Sat., 7/25/09 | Galaxy/Wizards | ESPN2 |
466,000
|
| Sat., 7/25/09 | Fire/Sounders | ESPN2 |
421,000
|
| Sun., 6/28/09 | Dynamo/Galaxy | ESPN2 |
350,000
|
Source: Sports Business Daily
