Viewership more-than-doubled for this year’s Major League Soccer All-Star Game.
The 2014 MLS All-Star Game earned 862,000 viewers on ESPN2 Wednesday night, up 170% from last year (319K), up 63% from 2012 (530K), and according to Sports Business Daily the most-watched edition of the game on ESPN/ABC since 2004 (1.1M). UniMás chipped in 410,000 viewers for its coverage, bringing the total to just under 1.3 million viewers — the second-largest combined audience ever for the event (SBD, 8/8).
To put the numbers in perspective, last year’s MLS Cup earned 505,000 viewers on ESPN and 1.0 million combined on ESPN/UniMás.
The MLS All-Star Game easily topped other recent soccer fare. Last Sunday’s Manchester United/Real Madrid Champions Cup match drew 726,000 viewers on broadcast network FOX, and NBC earned 409,000 for its MLS season-debut between the Galaxy and Timbers.
2014 has been a successful season thus far for Major League Soccer. Through mid-July, viewership for regular season matches increased 43% on ESPN/ESPN2 and 81% on NBCSN.
(Wknd. numbers from Sports Business Daily)
