TV viewership of MLS Conference Semifinals drops 25% on FS1

For the series of Seattle Sounders against FC Dallas games, FOX Sports 1 saw a dramatic decrease of 25% in TV viewership for the 2016 MLS Conference Semifinals compared to last season.

Not one of FOX Sports 1’s MLS Conference Semifinal games between FC Dallas and Seattle Sounders exceeded 200,000 viewers. In fact, the series averaged only 147,000 viewers over both legs.

In 2015, FOX Sports 1’s four Conference Semifinal matchups averaged 229,000 viewers, which also included both legs of a Dallas-Seattle series. That one, however, averaged 220,500 viewers.

Meanwhile on ESPN, the Conference Semifinals saw only a 1,000 drop in viewership to 241,250 from 242,250 last season. Last Sunday’s match between the LA Galaxy and Colorado Rapids on ESPN is the only MLS Conference Semifinal to draw an audience larger than 300,000 thus far.

SEE MORE: MLS Knockout Round viewership down 10% on TV

For the MLS Playoffs to date, the games are averaging 255,250 compared to a regular season average of 276,689.

MLS action returns on November 22 when Montreal-Toronto and Seattle-Colorado battle in the Eastern and Western Conference Championships respectively.

SEE MORE: Schedule of MLS games on US TV and live streaming