At the beginning of August, Philly.com soccer reporter Jonathan Tannenwald heralded great expectations for MLS games that were scheduled to be televised that month on ESPN.
As Tannenwald noted, which was key, the four MLS games would be on the ESPN “mother ship,” the main channel instead of relegated to the more soccer-friendly ESPN2 network.
A note for the TV ratings wonks among you: ESPN’s next four MLS games are on the mother ship, and they are pretty big matchups.
— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) August 6, 2015
As it happened, only three of the next four games were shown on ESPN, but the 3 MLS games on ESPN got a big boost. Here are the viewing figures:
• August 9, 4-6pm ET: LA Galaxy vs. Seattle Sounders, ESPN: 549,000 viewers
• August 23, 3-5pm ET: LA Galaxy vs. New York City FC, ESPN: 452,000 viewers
• August 30, 4:30-6:30pm ET: Seattle Sounders vs. Portland Timbers, ESPN: 438,000 viewers
The viewing figures were far greater than what is customary for MLS games. So what was the difference? The August 9 game between LA Galaxy and Seattle Sounders marked the debut of Giovani Dos Santos. The resulting TV viewing audience number was the largest for an MLS regular-season game on English-language cable in more than three years.
In addition to the 549,000 number on ESPN, 183,000 people watched the game live on ESPN Deportes. The combined figure of 732,000 was impressive.
SEE MORE: Poor TV ratings for Bundesliga on FOX Sports continue to disappoint.
Meanwhile, the 452,000 number for the Galaxy vs. NYCFC game on ESPN was far greater than the 216,000 who watched the same teams play on ESPN2 in April.
Next, the 438,000 viewers for the derby between Seattle and Portland on August 30 was far greater than the 309,000 who watched the game on FOX Sports 1 in late April.
As a way of comparing the effect of games being shown on ESPN to other sports networks, ESPN is in 92 million homes (the same number as ESPN2), while FOX Sports 1 is in 84 million households.
SEE MORE: fuboTV adds MLS and Liga MX coverage through Univision Deportes and UniMas.
Based on the impressive numbers for the LA Galaxy games on ESPN against Seattle and New York City FC, it begs the question why MLS didn’t try harder to try to sign Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez this summer before he moved from Manchester United to Bayer Leverkusen. Based on the Dos Santos signing, Mexico is the key to unlocking greater TV ratings in the United States. Chicharito is at a stage in his career where he’s not going to get a lot of playing time at a major club in Europe, so he was faced with either taking a step down to play at Leverkusen or to play in MLS. Unfortunately for MLS, he decided to move to Germany.
For MLS and ESPN, there are currently no LA Galaxy games scheduled on the “mother ship” in September or October.
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Peter C
September 8, 2015 at 9:42 am
“Meanwhile, the 452,000 number for the Galaxy vs. NYCFC game on ESPN was far greater than the 216,000 who watched the same teams play on ESPN2 in April.”
I presume you mean the RBNY v LA match in April, as East/West teams play each other once per season.
Eugene
September 6, 2015 at 11:12 pm
Great to the ratings start to trend upward!! And the MLS is completely dominating the Bundelsiga in TV ratings here. GO MLS!
toryblue
September 7, 2015 at 7:28 am
this isn’t an upward trend. it’s a blip. and i can confidently say that because history tells me so.
toby
September 7, 2015 at 12:22 pm
What is it about soccer that you are so scared of? You always post anti-soccer posts. The fact is soccer is the most played sport in America, it is the number 2 sport for Americans under 25 and the only sport that is gaining popularity rather than losing it like the other traditional sports.
Ivan
September 6, 2015 at 4:39 pm
Why are there MLS games this weekend during an international break with key players missing?
Who is this helping? Is this helping the already mediocre poor quality of the league?
Masta-h Garber, the all-powerful creature, what a genius you are!
Javier
September 6, 2015 at 4:20 pm
I’ve mentioned for a while it would be great business for MLS to bring in Chicharito for ratings and make him the highest paid player in MLS but it didn’t quite work out. But at least Gio is here now so it should help the league in the short term.
CTBlues
September 6, 2015 at 1:36 pm
Wouldn’t be surprised if he comes to MLS to join LA2 in a few years.
rrev
September 6, 2015 at 11:14 am
Maybe he doesn’t want to come to MLS? And Leverkusen is a good club and Champions league, so while it is not Madrid or Manchester it’s definitely not Eibar, QPR or the Chicago Fire.
Kei
September 6, 2015 at 11:01 am
“Chicharito is at a stage in his career where he’s not going to get a lot of playing time at a major club in Europe…”
Kid’s only 27, still has many years and goals left to contribute at the top level, AND the club he just joined will be playing in the UCL this year. What in Hades are you on about?
rrev
September 6, 2015 at 11:16 am
Thought the same thing when I read that, not a Chicharito or Leverkusen fan, I couldn’t care less about either but to act like it’s some huge step down and MLS is the same is ridiculous and I say this as a MLS fan. Maybe the player just doesn’t want to come here for whatever reason, nothing wrong with that.
Christopher Harris
September 6, 2015 at 11:23 am
Fancy making a bet to see which club Chicharito joins after he leaves Bayer Leverkusen? It’s not going to be a step up. It may be a lateral move, but he’s missed his best chances to succeed at a Real Madrid or Manchester United level team.
rrev
September 6, 2015 at 11:28 am
Of course it is not going to be a step, for one he is not at that level and now he is older but it’s big gap between saying he didn’t make it at Manchester and Madrid to acting like Leverkusen is some bad option.
Christopher Harris
September 6, 2015 at 11:39 am
I’m not saying that Bayer Leverkusen is a bad option or not a good club. They’re just not at the same level as a Real Madrid or a Manchester United.
toby
September 7, 2015 at 7:53 am
I think the Leverkusen and the Bundesliga desperately want to Chicharito to boost their USA ratings too. The US Fox Bundesliga deal is the Bundesliga’s biggest foreign rights deal and there is fear they will lose it due t the poor ratings. This is why Bundesliga clubs are buying USA and Mexico players to boost ratings.
But the good ratings prove if you give soccer mainstream coverage it will get viewers in the US. My theory why soccer didn’t grow in the USA like other nations was due the media. Soccer was always the most played sport since the 1970s in the USA. But it was not until the mid 2000s that soccer was shown on mainstream channels. Soccer has exploded since it has got mainstream coverage where world cups gets higher ratings than the MLB, NBA an NHL.
I think if the USA produces a world class player it will get even bigger. Just look at the boost Cycling got in the USA when Armstrong became dominant cyclist.