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- MLS return watched by average 492,000 viewers across ESPN networks
- Game was second most-viewed regular season match since March 2018
- Average audience for first four games of 2020 up 27% on last year
Orlando City’s last-minute 2-1 win over Inter Miami in the opening game of Major League Soccer’s (MLS) return to play averaged 464,000 viewers on ESPN, making it the US pay-TV network’s fifth most-watched regular season broadcast in five years.
The audience for the game on 8th July peaked at 521,000 viewers as fans tuned in to watch Nani score a dramatic 97th minute winner in the MLS is Back Tournament at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.
Including ESPN Deportes, MLS’s Spanish-language broadcast partner in the US, the game reached an average viewership of 492,000, becoming the second most-viewed MLS regular season match across ESPN networks since 11th March 2018.
The most-watched game during that time was the 2020 season-opener between Los Angeles Football Club and Inter Miami, which saw a combined 663,000 viewers watch the game on 1st March. It is worth noting that that fixture took place on a Sunday, while Orlando City-Inter Miami was broadcast on a weeknight in the US.
The top markets for MLS’s resumption were Orlando, Kansas City and Atlanta, closely followed by Miami and Columbus, Ohio.
MLS is averaging 489,000 combined viewers through its first four broadcasts of 2020 on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, marking a 27 per cent increase compared to the first four fixtures shown on the networks in 2019.
ESPN is showing 27 matches from the MLS is Back Tournament across its network, with the tournament due to run until 11th August.
Expansion franchise Nashville SC have become the second team to pull out of the competition after nine players tested positive for Covid-19. FC Dallas were the first team to withdraw from the tournament earlier this week.
Orlando City’s last-minute 2-1 win over Inter Miami in the opening game of Major League Soccer’s (MLS) return to play averaged 464,000 viewers on ESPN, making it the US pay-TV network’s fifth most-watched regular season broadcast in five years.
The audience for the game on 8th July peaked at 521,000 viewers as fans tuned in to watch Nani score a dramatic 97th minute winner in the MLS is Back Tournament at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.
Including ESPN Deportes, MLS’s Spanish-language broadcast partner in the US, the game reached an averaged viewership of 492,000, becoming the second most-viewed MLS regular season match across ESPN networks since 11th March 2018.
The most-watched game during that time was the 2020 season-opener between Los Angeles Football Club and Inter Miami, which saw a combined 663,000 viewers watch the game on 1st March. It is worth noting that that fixture took place on a Sunday, while Orlando City-Inter Miami was broadcast on a weeknight in the US.
The top markets for MLS’s resumption were Orlando, Kansas City and Atlanta, closely followed by Miami and Columbus, Ohio.
MLS is averaging 489,000 combined viewers through its first four broadcasts of 2020 on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, marking a 27 per cent increase compared to the first four fixtures shown on the networks in 2019.
ESPN is showing 27 matches from the MLS is Back Tournament across its network, with the tournament due to run until 11th August.
Expansion franchise Nashville SC have become the second team to pull out of the competition after nine players tested positive for Covid-19. FC Dallas were the first team to withdraw from the tournament earlier this week.
