Major League Soccer benefited from an NFL lead-in over the weekend.
Regional Major League Soccer action featuring Toronto F.C./Red Bulls in 68% of markets earned a 0.8 final rating and 1.2 million viewers on FOX Sunday afternoon, marking the largest MLS audience on a single network since 2004. By comparison, last year’s MLS Cup combined for just shy of 1.2 million across ESPN, UniMas and Univision Deportes Network.
In the markets receiving the primary game, coverage aired immediately after the NFL on FOX. In the 31% of markets that received Sporting K.C./Galaxy, coverage aired before football.
The telecasts marked the first time that FOX has scheduled Major League Soccer around its NFL coverage, a practice the network started with the English Premier League five years ago. FOX carried six tape-delayed EPL matches on NFL Sundays in 2011 and 2012, with four of those six posting a larger rating and viewership than Sunday’s MLS coverage.
Other sporting events have received a larger bump from the NFL. Just one week earlier, CBS scored a 1.2 and 1.8 million for Professional Bull Riding coverage that either preceded or followed its NFL coverage.
| RATINGS FOR SOCCER PAIRED WITH NFL ON FOX | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | League | Match | Rtg. | Vwrs. |
| 9/18/11 | EPL | Chelsea Man. U. |
1.0 | 1.6M |
| 10/2/11 | EPL | Arsenal Tottenham |
1.1 | 1.6M |
| 11/20/11 | EPL | Liverpool Chelsea |
1.1 | 1.7M |
| 9/23/12 | EPL | Liverpool Man. U. |
0.7 | 1.0M |
| 10/7/12 | EPL | Newcastle Man. U. |
0.9 | 1.4M |
| 11/4/12 | EPL | Liverpool Newcastle |
0.7 | 1.0M |
| 9/13/15 | Bndslga | Augsburg Bayern Munich |
0.6 | 926K |
| 9/18/16 | MLS | Toronto/NY or KC/LA |
0.8 | 1.2M |
(Wknd. numbers from Fox Sports; 2012 EPL numbers via World Soccer Talk)
