MLS TV Ratings

Would love to see the same for this Friday night.

The Women's Semis did very well on NBCSPN on Monday...

2.1 million average for the both matches (starting from 12:00 PM EST)...I assumed the US Women's match probably averaged around 4 million (peaking to around 5 million or more during the final moments of the game)...If over 3.5 million, then it would become the highest rated sporting event on NBCSPN to date (the highest rated sporting event was the 2012 Stanley Cup Final)

It could probably get 20 million and NBC still wouldn't air the final on the flagship channel.

Simply because they can't insert many commercials during a soccer game. One of the main appeals of the sport, and it's exactly what advertisers don't want. Kinda makes me mad.

I'm pretty sure NBC did exactly this during some prior Olympic Soccer games.

yeah, but that would never work today with USA soccer matches on the flagship network. People would protest...

Soccer has gotten to the point where a lot of people do care if they screw up the broadcast (add commercials).

There's absolutely no reason that soccer can't stop the clock and take commercial breaks except pure stubborness. Soccer leagues around the world are missing a lot of cash because of the refusal to stop the clock even in situations where it would make perfect sense to do so.

Situation one: player gets airbrushed by another player, flips to the ground and rolls around for three or four minutes. For some mysterious reason, while this is going on, the clock MUST keep running, and you MUST not take a commercial break because it would "INTERRUPT THE FLOW OF THE GAME." Huh? What flow of the game is interrupted because the clock stops?

Situation two: Coach substitutes a player late in the game essentially to waste time. The player being substituted jogs off the field at about a half mile an hour pace. You MUST NOT STOP THE CLOCK in this situation because it would "interrupt the flow of the game." What flow? NOOOOOOO! No stopping the clock! Why?

Situation three: A goal is scored. It's usually about thirty to forty-five seconds between a goal being scored and the ball put back in play, but stopping the clock and taking a commercial break would just DESTROY the flow of the game. Again, what "flow"?

That's three situations where the clock keeps running to preserve the sanctity of the "flow of the game" where there is no flow, when, in fact, networks could make a buck or two. And there are plenty of stoppages in a game where having three or four designated "official timeouts" a game couldn't possibly hurt the "flow of the game." The argument against stopping the clock basically boils down to the same old tired tripe of an appeal to tradition which is logically fallacious and, counter productive.

If you stopped the clock for (A) commercial breaks at the play stoppages closest to 20.40,60, and 80 minutes, (B) for goals, (c) injuries, (D) for substitutions -- the EPL would, at least, double its television revenues, and you'd eliminate at least a couple of stupid time wasting tactics, and wind up with a cleaner game.

I know, I know that's "Americanizing the game" and that would be a cardinal sin, but there is no logical reason to keep the clock running in these situations.

Where is the neg rep?

Nobody wants to watch commercials! I heard that original NASL referees were instructed to hold player and ball when ball is in out for 30 sec. so that TV can run commercials!?

Maybe giving each team to use 1 (2 min.) timeout during the game can help but I doubt. Keep it simple with no interruption. League should punish player after review for simulating injuries and time wasting.

All the neg rep in the world will not change the fact that stopping the clock in these situations does NOT interrupt the flow of the game.

But it would help the flow of this thread.

Clock stoppages don't just give an opportunity for commercials though. It also gives an opportunity for in-game story telling by the announcers, and that helps build audiences, which, ultimately, builds TV revenues.

It's NBC. I would think they would just take 3 three minute tape-delays per half and come back right where they left off. Catch up at half time and repeat in the second half. In fact, I command ESPN to do this for all games so I don't have to see much of Lalas at halftime.

But what about legit injuries? Why is the clock running with a guy laid out on the field? What is that for? Is it more compelling watching the team doctor look over a player than a Continental Tire advert? I get that no one wants to see a 90 minute soccer match turn into a four hour albatross, but why are soccer leagues and Fifa so beholden to tradition that they can't suffer a 90 second commercial break, and an increase in revenues while an injured player is looked over? Or a 90 second commercial break after a goal? Really?

Look, I get it, traditionalists hate to see the game change, and even hate that I bring this up even more, but the arguments for intentionally denying soccer the revenues of, say, the NFL, makes no sense to me.

Man, we do not watch it for money but for love of the game. NFL is king in USA but in the rest of the world is not existent. MLS will make more money when they improve quality, simple as that. When they improve quality they can make money outside of N.America market also. If they make it to look like NFL than they will go bankrupt very soon.

I didn't say anything about MLS making more money. I spoke of soccer making more money. Specifically I mentioned EPL. EPL has nowhere near the revenues that a league of its international popularity would have if you had, say ten or twelve minutes per game of commercials. World Cup has nowhere near the revenues it would have if there were ten to twelve minutes of commercials per game. I didn't say MLS. I said soccer. Soccer is hurting itself -- not merely in the US -- but around the world.

And, you didn't really answer any of the points in the post you quoted. .

Let's make it simple. Forget money:

Why does the clock run while a guy is laid out on the field injured? What purpose does it serve to have the clock running there?

Why does the clock run while a team celebrates a goal? What purpose does it serve to have the clock running there?

Why does the clock run while play is stopped for a substitution to take place? What purpose does it serve?

...but that was on midday on the East Coast.

1) ESPN2 at 9 PM, MLS had 270K total viewers and a .11 A18-49 rating.

Drum Rolls.....

2) On NBC Sports Net at 7, it brought in 405K viewers and a .15 A18-49. (another new High)....Yes, At least, this one fell within my expectation (just a notch over my range)....

So, NBCSPN got a 405K viewers for the Sunday Telecast (which is a new high)....This is for the 2.5 hour window...

Perhaps, ESPN2 was affected by the overlaps...So, this means at one time (during the overlaps), we had something like 400k on NBCSPN and 250K+ on ESPN2...The ESPN2 match was initially scheduled for 10:00 pm EST...I don't know why the league and ESPN changed it to 9:00 PM est...They could have started the telecast at 9:30 pm (est) avoiding any overlaps...

But regardless, 150K and 400K+ on NBCSPN shows the momentum for MLS on NBCSPN...

ESPN2 was probably affected by the overlap, The Olympics on NBC, and ESPN Sunday night baseball. Too bad the game was not on ESPN...We would have seen something like a 400k more than likely...

While I am obviously happy about the NBCSN number, the overall message is a bit disturbing for me.

This continues to prove that the lead in is more powerful than the quality of the game. The ESPN2 game was a more important game, featuring bigger names, in front of a huge crowd and on a station with a greater household reach. But the lead in was better on NBCSN so it crushed the ESPN2 game.

I am not sure how best to interpret this especially once the lead in quality vanishes in a couple of days.

Here is the latest update

1) Adds in 2012 Telefutura All Star Game numbers
2) Adds in the 2 latest NBCSN games
3) Adds in the latest ESPN2 game

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2012 Season

Home teams listed first

NBC Sports Network
Game 1: 82k (Dal vs NY). Sunday 3:00pm. 3/11/2012
Game 2: 124/145k (2.5 hour/two hour) (Phi vs Colo) Sunday 4:00pm. 3/18/2012
Game 3: 107k (2.5 hour) (Sea vs Hou) Friday 10:00pm 3/23/2012
Game 4: 76k (?) (DC vs Dal) Friday 7:30pm 3/30/2012
Game 5: 123k (2.5 hour) (LA vs NE) Saturday 11:00pm 3/31/2012
Game 6: 126k/139k (2.5 hour/two hour) (Phi vs Col) Saturday 4:00pm 4/14/2012
Game 7: 79k (2.5 hour) (Chi vs Tor) Saturday 3:30pm 4/21/2012
Game 8: 70k (2.5 hour) (NY vs NE) Saturday 3:30pm 4/28/2012
Game 9: 96k (2.5 hour) (Sea vs Phi) Saturday 4:00pm 5/5/2012
Game 10: 120k (2.5 hour) (Hou vs DC) Saturday 4:30pm 5/12/2012
Game 11: 71k (2.5 hour) (Hou vs LA) Saturday 2:30 5/26/2012
Game 12: 53k (2.5 hour) (KC vs SJ) Sunday 4:40 5/27/2012
Game 13: 63k (2.5 hour) (Chi vs NY) Sunday 5:00pm 6/17/2012
Game 14: 137k (2.5 hour) (NY vs DC) Sunday 7:00pm 6/24/2012
Game 15: 133k (2.5 hour) (KC vs Chi) Friday 8:00pm 6/29/2012
Game 16: 151k (2.5 hour) (Sea vs Colo) Saturday 11:00pm 7/7/2012
Game 17: 259k (?) (Por vs LA) Saturday 11:00pm 7/14/2012
Game 18: 60k (2.5 hour) (SJ vs Dal) Wednesday 11:00pm 7/18/2012
Game 19: 392k (2.5) (Dal vs LA) Saturday 8:00pm 7/21/2012
Game 20: 233k (2.5) (Phi vs NE) Sunday 7:00pm 7/21/2012
Game 21: 148k (2.5) (Hou vs NY) Friday 8:00pm 8/3/2012
Game 22: 405k (2.5) (Por vs Dal) Sunday 7:00pm 8/5/2012
Average: 141k (includes the 2.5 hour numbers and the ? numbers)

ESPN2
Game 1: 337k (Por vs Phi) Monday 9:30pm 3/12/2012
Game 2: 344k (DC vs NY) Sunday 6:00pm 4/22/2012
Game 3: 275k (Phi vs NY) Sunday 12:30pm 5/13/2012
Game 4: 146k (Chiv vs LA) Saturday 10:30pm 5/19/2012
Game 5: 213k (Hou vs Dal) Saturday 7:30pm 6/16/2012
Game 6: 320k (SJ vs LA) Saturday 10:00pm 6/30/2012
All Star Game: 530k (MLS vs Chelsea) Wednesday 8:30 7/25/2012
Game 7: 270k (Sea vs LA) Sunday 9:00pm 8/5/2012
Average 272k (does not include all star game)

ESPN
Game 1: 217k (NY vs Colo) Sunday 4:00pm 3/25/2012
Game 2: 215k (KC vs LA) Saturday 4:00pm 4/7/2012*
Game 3: 508k (LA vs NY) Saturday 8:00pm 5/5/2012
Game 4: 888k (Por vs Sea) Sunday 5:00pm 6/24/2012**
Game 5: 496k (LA vs Chi) Sunday 3:00pm 7/8/2012
Game 6: 344k (NY vs Sea) Sunday 4:00pm 7/15/2012
Game 7: 611k (NY vs Phi) Saturday 2:30pm 7/21/2012
Average 468k

ESPN/ESPN2: 14 games, 370k

*Was moved from ESPN2 to ESPN
**Had a period of time in first half that overlapped with Italy England Euro QF. The 888k represents only the MLS portion of the telecast. It does not include any of the Euro OT or PK ratings.


Galavision
Game 1: 90k (Chiv vs Hou) Sunday 7:00pm 3/11/2012
Game 2: 77k (LA vs DC) Sunday 7:00pm 3/18/2012
Game 3: 24k (KC vs DAL) Sunday 7:00pm 3/25/2012
Game 4: 31k (Colo vs Chi) Sunday 7:00pm 4/1/2012
Game 5: 45k (Chi vs Hou) Sunday 7:00pm 4/15/2012
Game 6: 34k (Dal vs Colo) Sunday 7:00pm 5/6/2012
Game 7: 66k (SJ vs Chiv) Sunday 7:00pm 5/13/2012
Game 8: ?? (Por vs Chi) Sunday 7:00pm 5/20/2012
Game 9: 23k (Phi vs DC) Saturday 7:00pm 6/16/2012
Game 10: 47k (Dal vs Chiv) Saturday 9:00pm 6/23/2012
Game 11: 44k (Tor vs NY) Saturday 9:00pm 6/30/2012
Game 12: 52k (Hou vs DC) Sunday 9:00pm 7/15/2012
Average (for 11 games): 48k


Telefutura
All Star Game: 358k (MLS vs Chelsea) Wednesday 8:30 7/25/2012

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Historical Data

2011 Final TV Rating Averages
ESPN: 4 games: 498k
ESPN2: 17 games: 238k
ESPN/ESPN2: 21 games: 288k
FSC: 29 games: 71k
Galavision: 18 games: 72k
Telefutura: 12 games 233K rating
All Star Game vs Man United: 781k Wed 8:30pm July 27, 2011 on ESPN2

2010 Final Ratings
ESPN2: 25 games 249K
FSC: 25 games 53k
Telefutura: 23 games 211k
All Star Game vs Man United: 714k Wed July 28, 2010 on ESPN2

2009 Final Ratings
ESPN2: 22 games 284
FSC: 32 game 53k
Telefutura: 24 games 229k
All Star Game vs Everton: 484k Wed July 29, 2009 on ESPN2

2008 Final Ratings
ESPN2: 27 games 253k (dedicated Thursday night slot)
Telefutura: 26 games 254k

2007 Final Ratings
ESPN2: 26 games 289k (dedicated Thursday night slot)
Telefutura: 24 games 282k

2006 Final Ratings
ESPN2 21 games 263k


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Sources (while they last)
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/.../ESPN-Booting-MLS-From-Its-Thursday-Slot.aspx
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/02/AR2007050202740.html
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2011/10/26/Research-and-Ratings/MLS-TV.aspx
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/...LS-Attendance-TV-Viewership-Numbers-Slip.aspx
http://www.rslsoapbox.com/2012/3/22...ruggles-on-nbc-sports-while-real-salt-lake-on
http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2010/07/big-jump-for-mls-all-star-game/
http://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/mls-tv-ratings.1845021/#post-24631720
http://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/tv-ratings.1742835/page-6#post-24233078

well, i got something right for once, lol.

It seems like the Olympics is hurting and helping MLS at the same time.

Still, I would have expected LA/Seattle to get higher than that, at least 300K.

Also ironic that the two highest games on NBC involve FC Dallas. Without the olympic lead in, I doubt those two games even get 100K (maybe over 100K for the portland one).

If I had to guess, we'd get very similar numbers if the two games were switched. LA viewers seem to do a pretty good job at not tuning in.

I'm not a Neilsen household of course, but I watched the MLS36 over the SEAvLA game.

I say it is a great news when you look at it from a cumulative analysis...ESPN2 first 30 minutes was more than likely affected by NBCSPN telecast...Yes, a good lead-in is good for any programing not just MLS.

Based on the trends, this Friday's MLS game should have a decent lead-in with the Men's Olympic Bronze match airing at 2:45 pm...It would be great if the game goes to overtime, and end around 5:45 pm EST...But, we should will see a minimum of 150K-225K viewers...