By Douglas Pucci
Follow @SonOfTheBronx
Here is the up-to-date ratings information, according to Nielsen, for Major League Soccer (MLS) matches in 2012 on ESPN, ESPN2, NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) and and the Spanish-language network, Galavision (GALA).
Ratings from Univision (UNI), TeleFutura (TFA) and ESPN Deportes (ESPND) were not made available.
| DATE | TIME | DUR | NET | MATCH | HH | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun Mar 11 | 3:00 | 150 | NBCSN | New York 1, FC Dallas 2 | 0.1 | 82 |
| Sun Mar 11 | 7:00 | 128 | GALA | Houston 1, Chivas USA 0 | 0.1 | 90 |
| Mon Mar 12 | 9:30 | 150 | ESPN2 | Philadelphia 1, Portland 3 | 0.2 | 337 |
| Sun Mar 18 | 4:00 | 150 | NBCSN | Colorado 2, Philadelphia 1 | 0.1 | 124 |
| Sun Mar 18 | 7:00 | 124 | GALA | D.C. United 1, Los Angeles 3 | 0.1 | 77 |
| Fri Mar 23 | 10:00 | 150 | NBCSN | Houston 0, Seattle 2 | 0.1 | 106 |
| Sun Mar 25 | 4:00 | 127 | ESPN | Colorado 1, New York 4 | 0.1 | 217 |
| Sun Mar 25 | 7:00 | 128 | GALA | FC Dallas 1, Sporting K.C. 2 | 0.0 | 24 |
| Fri Mar 30 | 7:30 | 150 | NBCSN | FC Dallas 1, D.C. United 4 | 0.1 | 76 |
| Sat Mar 31 | 11:02 | 148 | NBCSN | New England 3, Los Angeles 1 | 0.1 | 123 |
| Sat Apr 1 | 7:00 | 122 | GALA | Chicago 0, Colorado 2 | 0.0 | 31 |
| Sat Apr 7 | 1:00 | UNI | New York 4, Columbus 1 | ??? | ??? | |
| Sat Apr 7 | 4:00 | 130 | ESPN | Los Angeles 0, Sporting K.C. 1 | 0.2 | 215 |
| Sat Apr 14 | 3:30 | 150 | NBCSN | Columbus 0, Philadelphia 1 | 0.0 | 126 |
| Sun Apr 15 | 7:00 | 105 | GALA | Houston 1, Chicago 1 | 0.0 | 45 |
| Sat Apr 21 | 3:30 | 150 | NBCSN | Chicago 3, Toronto FC 2 | ??? | 79 |
| Sun Apr 22 | 6:00 | ESPN2 | New York 1, D.C. United 4 | ??? | 344 | |
| Sat Apr 28 | 3:30 | 150 | NBCSN | New England 0, New York 1 | 0.0 | 70 |
| Fri May 4 | 11:00 | ESPND | Chicago 2, Chivas USA 1 | ??? | ??? | |
| Sat May 5 | 4:00 | 150 | NBCSN | Philadelphia 0, Seattle 1 | 0.1 | 96 |
| Sat May 5 | 8:00 | 131 | ESPN | New York 1, Los Angeles 0 | 0.4 | 508 |
| Sun May 6 | 7:00 | 124 | GALA | Colorado 2, FC Dallas 0 | 0.0 | 34 |
| Sat May 12 | 4:30 | 150 | NBCSN | D.C. United 0, Houston 1 | 0.1 | 120 |
| Sun May 13 | 12:15 | 143 | ESPN2 | New York 3, Philadelphia 2 | 0.2 | 275 |
| Sun May 13 | 7:00 | 127 | GALA | Chivas USA 1, San Jose 1 | 0.0 | 66 |
| Sat May 19 | 10:30 | ESPN2 | Chivas USA 1, Los Angeles 0 | 146 | ||
| Sun May 20 | 7:00 | GALA | Chicago 1, Portland 2 | ??? | ??? | |
| Wed May 23 | 7:00 | UNI | Chivas USA 1, New York 1 | ??? | ??? | |
| Sat May 26 | 2:30 | 150 | NBCSN | Los Angeles 1, Houston 2 | 0.0 | 71 |
| Sat May 26 | 7:00 | 150 | UNI | Chicago 1, Columbus 2 | ??? | ??? |
| Sun May 27 | 4:00 | 150 | NBCSN | San Jose 1, Sporting K.C. 2 | 0.0 | 53 |
| Sat June 16 | 7:00 | 135 | GALA | D.C. United 1, Philadelphia 0 | 0.0 | 23 |
| Sat June 16 | 7:30 | 126 | ESPN2 | FC Dallas 1, FC Houston 2 | 0.2 | 213 |
| Sun June 17 | 5:00 | 150 | NBCSN | New York 1, Chicago 3 | 0.0 | 63 |
| Sat June 23 | 9:00 | 127 | GALA | Chivas USA 0, FC Dallas 0 | 0.0 | 47 |
| Sun June 24 | 5:00 | 40 | ESPN2 | Seattle 1, Portland 2 | 0.1 | 96 |
| Sun June 24 | 5:38 | 94 | ESPN | Seattle 1, Portland 2 | 0.5 | 888 |
| Sun June 24 | 7:00 | 150 | NBCSN | D.C. United 2, New York 3 | 0.1 | 137 |
| Fri June 29 | 8:30 | 150 | NBCSN | Chicago 1, Sporting K.C. 0 | 0.1 | 133 |
| Sat June 30 | 7:00 | 127 | GALA | New York 1, Toronto FC 1 | 0.0 | 44 |
| Sat June 30 | 10:00 | 135 | ESPN2 | Los Angeles 3, San Jose 4 | 0.2 | 320 |
| Sat July 7 | 11:00 | 150 | NBCSN | Seattle 2, Colorado 1 | 0.1 | 151 |
| Sun July 8 | 3:00 | 127 | ESPN | Chicago 0, Los Angeles 2 | 0.3 | 496 |
| Sat July 14 | 11:00 | 150 | NBCSN | Portland 3, Los Angeles 5 | 0.1 | 259 |
| Sun July 15 | 4:00 | 127 | ESPN | New York 2, Seattle 2 | 0.2 | 344 |
| Sun July 15 | 9:00 | 124 | GALA | Houston 4, D.C. United 0 | 0.0 | 52 |
| Wed July 18 | 11:00 | 150 | NBCSN | FC Dallas 1, San Jose 2 | 0.1 | 60 |
| Sat July 21 | 2:33 | 130 | ESPN | New York 2, Philadelphia 0 | 0.5 | 611 |
| Sat July 21 | 10:00 | TFA | Los Angeles 3, Chivas 1 | |||
| Wed July 25 | 8:37 | 147 | ESPN2 | Chelsea FC 2, MLS All-Stars 3 | 0.3 | 530 |
| Sat July 28 | 8:00 | 150 | NBCSN | Los Angeles 1, FC Dallas 0 | 0.2 | 392 |
| Sun July 29 | 7:06 | 151 | NBCSN | New England 1, Philadelphia 2 | 0.2 | 233 |
| Fri Aug 3 | 8:00 | 150 | NBCSN | Houston 2, New York 0 | 0.1 | 148 |
| Sun Aug 5 | 7:00 | 150 | NBCSN | Portland 1, FC Dallas 1 | 0.2 | 405 |
| Sun Aug 5 | 9:00 | 123 | ESPN2 | Seattle 4, Los Angeles 0 | 0.2 | 270 |
| Fri Aug 10 | 8:00 | 150 | NBCSN | New York 2, Houston 0 | 0.2 | 252 |
| Sun Aug 12 | 7:00 | 125 | GALA | Philadelphia 1, Chicago 3 | 0.0 | 31 |
| Sun Aug 12 | 11:00 | 125 | ESPN2 | Chivas USA 0, Los Angeles 4 | 0.1 | 163 |
| Wed Aug 15 | 7:00 | 123 | NBCSN | Los Angeles 1, Columbus 1 | 0.0 | 52 |
| Sun Aug 19 | 5:00 | 150 | NBCSN | Philadelphia 1, D.C. United 1 | 0.1 | 98 |
| Sun Aug 19 | 7:00 | 129 | GALA | Portland 2, New York 3 | 0.0 | 104 |
| Fri Aug 24 | 7:30 | 150 | NBCSN | Real Salt Lake 0, Philadelphia 0 | 0.0 | 40 |
| Sun Aug 26 | 7:03 | 150 | NBCSN | FC Dallas 0, LA Galaxy 2 | 0.1 | 124 |
| Sun Aug 26 | 9:00 | 130 | ESPN2 | New York 1, Sporting KC 1 | 0.1 | 130 |
| Wed Aug 29 | 8:00 | 118 | GALA | New York 2, D.C. United 2 | 0.1 | 128 |
| Fri Aug 31 | 10:33 | 147 | NBCSN | Colorado 0, Portland 1 | 0.1 | 121 |
| Sun Sep 2 | 7:00 | 129 | GALA | Houston 1, Chicago 3 | 0.1 | 93 |
| Sun Sep 2 | 9:00 | 150 | NBCSN | Chivas USA 0, San Jose 4 | 0.1 | 143 |
| Wed Sep 5 | 9:00 | 150 | NBCSN | Portland 0, Colorado 3 | 0.0 | 63 |
| Fri Sep 14 | 8:30 | 150 | NBCSN | Houston 1, Sporting K.C. 1 | 0.1 | 81 |
| Sat Sep 15 | 3:30 | 150 | NBC | Seattle 1, Portland 1 | 0.4 | 576 |
| Thu Sep 20 | 8:00 | 126 | ESPN2 | D.C. United 1, Philadelphia 0 | 0.1 | 125 |
| Sat Sep 22 | 8:00 | 150 | NBCSN | Portland 1, Real Salt Lake 2 | 0.0 | 45 |
| Sun Sep 23 | 7:00 | 125 | GALA | Chivas USA 0, D.C. United 1 | 0.0 | 81 |
| Fri Sep 28 | 8:30 | 150 | NBCSN | Chicago 0, Sporting K.C. 2 | 0.1 | 94 |
| Sat Sep 29 | 9:00 | 150 | NBCSN | Seattle 0, Vancouver 0 | 0.1 | 102 |
| Sun Sep 30 | 7:00 | 128 | GALA | LA Galaxy 0, Colorado 0 | 0.0 | 53 |
| Sat Oct 6 | 3:30 | 150 | NBC | Chicago 2, New York 0 | ||
| Sat Oct 6 | 9:00 | 150 | NBCSN | Real Salt Lake 2, LA Galaxy 1 | 0.1 | 82 |
| Sun Oct 7 | 7:00 | 128 | GALA | FC Dallas 1, Chivas USA 1 | 0.0 | 42 |
| Sun Oct 7 | 9:00 | 126 | ESPN | Portland 0, Seattle 3 | 0.2 | 290 |
| Wed Oct 17 | 10:00 | 125 | NBCSN | Real Salt Lake 0, Seattle 0 | 0.1 | 101 |
| Sat Oct 20 | 7:30 | 150 | NBCSN | Philadelphia 1, Houston 3 | 0.0 | 39 |
| Sun Oct 21 | 7:00 | 127 | GALA | LA Galaxy 2, San Jose 2 | 0.0 | 57 |
| Sun Oct 21 | 9:00 | 129 | ESPN | FC Dallas 1, Seattle 3 | 0.1 | 211 |
| Wed Oct 24 | 8:30 | 129 | NBCSN | Philadelphia 1, Sporting KC 2 | 0.0 | 50 |
| Sat Oct 27 | 1:30 | 150 | NBC | New York 3, Philadelphia 0 | ||
| Sat Oct 27 | 4:00 | 153 | NBCSN | D.C. United 1, Chicago 1 | 0.0 | 62 |
| Sat Oct 27 | 6:33 | 147 | NBCSN | San Jose 1, Portland 1 | 0.1 | 101 |
| Sun Oct 28 | 7:00 | 126 | GALA | Chivas USA 2, FC Dallas 2 | 0.0 | 20 |
| Sun Oct 28 | 9:00 | 128 | ESPN | Seattle 0, LA Galaxy 1 | 0.2 | 265 |
MLS Playoffs
| DATE | TIME | DUR | NET | MATCH | HH | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed Oct 31 | 9:00 | 154 | ESPN2 | Houston 2, Chicago 1 | 0.1 | 201 |
| Thu Nov 1 | 10:46 | 142 | NBCSN | Vancouver 1, LA Galaxy 2 | 0.1 | 142 |
| Fri Nov 2 | 10:00 | 130 | NBCSN | Real Salt Lake 0, Seattle 0 | 0.1 | 137 |
| Sat Nov 3 | 7:56 | 154 | NBCSN | New York 1, D.C. United 1 | 0.1 | 158 |
| Sun Nov 4 | 3:30 | NBC | Sporting KC 0, Houston 2 | |||
| Sun Nov 4 | 9:00 | 130 | ESPN | San Jose 1, LA Galaxy 0 | 0.2 | 335 |
| Wed Nov 7 | 9:05 | 118 | NBCSN | Sporting KC 1, Houston 0 | 0.1 | 93 |
| Wed Nov 7 | 11:13 | 141 | ESPN2 | San Jose 1, LA Galaxy 3 | 0.3 | 424 |
| Thu Nov 8 | 7:30 | 150 | NBCSN | D.C. United 1, New York 0 | 0.1 | 125 |
| Thu Nov 8 | 10:00 | 126 | NBCSN | Seattle 1, Real Salt Lake 0 | 0.1 | 94 |
| Sun Nov 11 | 4:00 | 150 | NBCSN | D.C. United 1, Houston 3 | 0.0 | 59 |
| Sun Nov 11 | 8:00 | 129 | ESPN | Seattle 0, LA Galaxy 3 | 0.3 | 540 |
| Sun Nov 18 | 4:00 | 154 | NBCSN | Houston 1, D.C. United 1 | 0.1 | 111 |
| Sun Nov 18 | 9:00 | 139 | ESPN | LA Galaxy 1, Seattle 2 | 0.3 | 485 |
| Sat Dec 1 | 4:30 | 163 | ESPN | MLS CUP: Houston 1, LA Galaxy 3 | 0.5 | 797 |
Updated December 5, 2012
HH: Household rating.
Viewers, in thousands, aged 2 years or older.
All Times Eastern.
Source: Nielsen Media Research
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JimmyUJul 9, 2012 at 1:44 am
Those are some low ratings for MLS. What’s interesting is that a lot of MLS stadiums are packed especially in the Pacific Northwest, but nobody watches it on TV. I wonder how these ratings compare to recent Euro 2012 Championship and the English Premier League.
RfrancisRJul 12, 2012 at 1:17 am
It’s not really that terrible. ESPN is averaging 465,000 for MLS through five games. ESPN2 is averaging 272,000 (not including the un-planned partial game that overlapped Italy-Egland). Through eleven games the average on ESPN/ESPN2 is 360k or 25% higher than last years average on the two networks of 288k. An improvement is an improvement.
NBCSN averages about 70,000 viewers so the 101,000 they get from MLS is an improvement. NBC execs said they wanted to average 100k per game this year. They are right on target. The last three games on NBCSN has exceeded 133k. I think that if they do that for the rest of the year they’ll be quite satisfied.
One other point on the NBCSN numbers is that the ratings are for the full 2.5 hour block and not just the game so that includes pre and postgame coverage which skews the viewership down a bit.
Galavision’s numbers are cr@p, but Galavision is the least available of the Univision networks and naturally will get low numbers. Univision has moved many MLS and Mexican soccer games to Galavision and it has hurt the ratings of both the Mexican League and MLS.
SonOfTheBronxJul 9, 2012 at 9:05 am
Here are two items that will give you more insight into the viewership for UEFA EURO 2012:
Semifinals
http://www.tvmediainsights.com/2012/06/uefa-euro-2012-scores-big-on-espn-networks/
Final & Tournament average
http://www.tvmediainsights.com/2012/07/uefa-euro-2012-succeeds-on-espn-networks/
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