Ratings Roundup: MLS Cup, Manchester Derby, Boxing

Last Saturday’s Seattle-Toronto MLS Cup earned a 0.5 rating and 803,000 viewers on ESPN, down 38% in ratings and 43% in viewership from the same matchup last year (0.8, 1.4M). This year’s match aired on cable during the afternoon, while last year’s aired in primetime on the FOX broadcast network.

Compared to the last MLS Cup on ESPN, which aired on a Sunday afternoon, ratings increased a tick from a 0.4 and viewership 20% from 668,000. Seattle led all markets for ESPN’s telecast with a 7.0.

On UniMas and Univision Deportes Network, the game had 304,000 viewers — down 49% from last year (601K) and down 40% from 2015 (506K). The combined audience of 1.1 million marks a 43% decline from last year (2.0M), down 3% from 2015 (1.2M), and a four-year low.

In the first “Manchester Derby” of the English Premier League season, last Sunday’s Manchester United-Manchester City match scored a 0.55 rating and 902,000 viewers on NBCSN — up 31% in ratings and 45% in viewership from the rivals’ first meeting last season (0.42, 623K). Last year’s match took place earlier in the season and aired in an earlier window (early Saturday morning).

It was the most-watched Premier League match on cable since Leicester City clinched the 2016 title against Manchester United (908K).

Earlier in the morning, Liverpool-Everton had a 0.37 and 594,000. On Saturday, Newcastle-Leicester City had a 0.55 and 776,000 on the NBC broadcast network, while NBCSN drew a 0.25 and 367,000 for Tottenham-Stoke and a 0.20 and 305,000 for West-Ham Chelsea. The comparable week last season consisted of weekday matches.

The latest edition of ESPN’s Top Rank Boxing, which aired directly after the Heisman Trophy Presentation, had a 1.0 rating and 1.7 million viewers Saturday night — the second-largest boxing audience on cable this year. ESPN owns the top audience, 2.8 million for the Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn bout in July.

Compared to last year’s post-Heisman program, the “Catholics vs. Convicts” 30 For 30 documentary, ratings fell 23% from a 1.3 and viewership 18% from 2.1 million. It topped only “Four Falls of Buffalo” in 2015 (1.5M) as ESPN’s least-watched post-Heisman show in a decade.