Viewership for the MLS All-Star Game sank on ESPN but rose overall.
The 2016 MLS All-Star Game, which pitted the league’s stars against Premier League club Arsenal, earned a 0.3 final rating and 513,000 viewers on ESPN Thursday night — flat in ratings and down 6% in viewership from last year on Fox Sports 1 (0.3, 548K) and down a tick and 41%, respectively, from 2014 on ESPN (0.4, 862K).
The match was the least-watched MLS All-Star Game on an English-language network since 2013 (319K) and the second-least watched since 2009. For the season, it ranks as the third-most watched MLS telecast on the ESPN family of networks — behind NYC F.C./Sounders in June (616K) and Galaxy/Sounders in July (536K).
Spanish-language coverage on UniMas scored a 0.2 and 360,000, flat in ratings but up 26% in viewership from last year (0.2, 285K). The combined audience of about 873,000 viewers tops last year’s mark of 833,000 by 5%.
(Thu. numbers via Programming Insider)
