Viewership for the 2010 Major League Soccer season on ESPN2 declined both from last year and 2008.
ESPN2 averaged 249,000 viewers for 25 MLS telecasts during the 2010 season, down 12% from last year (284,000, 24 telecasts), and down 2% from 2008 (253,000, 25 telecasts).
The decline comes just months after the most-viewed World Cup ever on English-language television (3.261 mil on ESPN/ABC).
To put the numbers in perspective, ESPN2 averaged 258,000 viewers for WNBA regular season games this year, and Versus averaged 366,000 viewers for IndyCar racing.
According to Sports Business Daily, the top match of the season on ESPN2 was Sounders/Galaxy on July 4 (391,000) — meaning that not a single MLS telecast on ESPN2 this season drew over 400,000 viewers.
To put that in perspective, four telecasts topped 400,000 viewers last season.
