Despite moving from broadcast to cable, overnight ratings improved for the MLS Cup.
Sunday night’s Real Salt Lake/Galaxy matchup drew a 0.9 overnight rating on ESPN, up 29% from a 0.7 for last year’s afternoon Crew/Red Bulls tilt on ABC, and tied as the highest overnight for the event since ’05.
To put that in perspective, David Beckham‘s debut with the Galaxy in July ’07 drew a 1.2 overnight on ESPN.
Overnight ratings for the MLS Cup since ’99
| Year | Date | Game | Net | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Sun., 11/22/09 | Real Salt Lake/Galaxy | ESPN |
0.9
|
| 2008 | Sun., 11/23/08 | Crew/Red Bulls | ABC |
0.7
|
| 2007 | Sun., 11/18/07 | Dynamo/Revolution | ABC |
0.9
|
| 2006 | Sun., 11/12/06 | Dynamo/Revolution | ABC |
0.8
|
| 2005 | Sun., 11/13/05 | Galaxy/Revolution | ABC |
1.0
|
| 2004 | Sun., 11/14/04 | United/Wizards | ABC |
0.8
|
| 2003 | Sun., 11/23/03 | Earthquakes/Fire | ABC |
0.9
|
| 2002 | Sun., 10/20/02 | Galaxy/Revolution | ABC |
1.0
|
| 2001 | Sun., 10/21/01 | Earthquakes/Galaxy | ABC |
1.2
|
| 2000 | Sun., 10/15/00 | Wizards/Fire | ABC |
1.0
|
| 1999 | Sun., 11/21/99 | United/Galaxy | ABC |
1.0
|
