This from SoccerAmerica.com:
The viewership of the America-Chivas game surpassed the U.S. viewership of every National Hockey League telecast on both NBC and Versus (formerly OLN) during the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 NHL seasons with the exception of Game 7 of the 2006 Stanley Cup final series between Carolina and Edmonton, which aired on NBC and drew 5.45 million viewers age 2 and over.“
That 4.3 million not only surpassed every NHL game on NBC or Versus, it also bested every NBA regular season game (excluding Christmas) since Lakers/Cavaliers drew 4.4 million viewers in February of 2005.
Of course, it should be pointed out that the match was on Univision, a Spanish-language network. Soccer should be drawing huge numbers on a Spanish language network, considering the popularity of that sport in the demographic. And the match was being televised in prime-time on a Sunday night.
In other words, this doesn’t mean that soccer is on the rise in mainstream America. However, it does mean that soccer has a niche that puts it on or close to the same level as regular season Major League Baseball, NBA and NHL games.
