MLS 2009 TV RATINGS for ESPN2/ESPNDeportes

According to the recent article on Sportsbusinessdaily, the three highest rating MLS games have been:

March 19 (Thurs.) 9 p.m. New York-Seattle 0.3 (254,000 Households/327K viewers) ESPNDeportes numbers were not availabel (Not applicabel due to game not being simulcasted on Deportes). FOR ESPN2, it was the highest rated MLS game so far this season.

May 28 (Thurs.) 10:30 p.m. Chicago-Chivas USA 0.2 (233,000) and for ESPNDeportes a 1.3 Hispanic rating (63,000 spanish homes). THIS TELECAST when combined, according to my calculations, it reached about 296K Households/homes, and 350K-370K viewers. NOT Bad for an MLS rating, and making this game the highest in terms of households and viewers.

April 11 (Sat.) 10:30 p.m. Chivas USA-Los Angeles 0.2 (214,000/ESPN2) + 0.8 (33,000 spanish homes/ESPNDeportes). According to my calculation, you had a total of 247K households, and about 300-310K viewers)

The lowest, was a Friday game on April 17 (Fri.) 7 p.m. New England-D.C. United 0.1 (132,000) + 0.3 Hispanic rating (15,000 spanish homes)

So, from this, one could assume that Friday nights might not be a good spot for MLS, but the ratings for Saturday nights and Thursday nights are pretty much the same.

ESPN executives are optimistic that the ratings will increase with Beckham games on their calendar. They are very pleased with Deportes Numbers increasing 40% this year, going from a 0.5-0.7 Hispanic rating.


It would remain to be seen on what ratings Beckham games will get, especially LA v. Chivas USA in the next few weeks.

Hope this helped.

 

To suffice, so far this season, there have been some bright spots (CHIVAS USA games, SEATTLE v NY), and ESPNDeportes. The bad news is FRIDAY nights (eventhough, we only had one game so far).

 

I could be wrong with this prediction, but i think there is a good chance that we might see the first Beckham game scheduled against the Red Bulls to be shown on national tv. The game is scheduled for a Thursday night at 8:00 pm (JULY 16th). According to ESPN and MLS, their schedule is subject to change during the course of the year. I don't think ESPN2 has anything major scheduled during that time, or ESPN (as far i know). So, i think it would be a great event to showcase that game against the Red Bulls in NY on national tv. Once again, Giant Stadium should have atleast 30K-40K for that game. What do you guys think?

As for the next US game, on a Wednesday night, it is scheduled to be shown on ESPN2, but i wouldn't be surprised to see it on ESPN (depending what time they schedule the game). I'm betting that this game will be shown on ESPNHD/ESPN2HD. This is a big game and ESPN always gets good ratings.

 

yes, beckham game will easily get to the 400K-500K viewers (ESPN2+ESPNDeportes), and maybe a 0.4-0.5 rating. I think it would be stupid for the league not to get the first Beckham game not on national tv. It should create a great drama for the game, plus the game is New York (the media capital).

 

Some updates on MLS ratings from JULY 20-26 edition of Sportsbusiness Journal. On page 9 of the magazine the following information was published.

Through 14 telecasts on ESPN2, MLS is averaging 255,000 viewers with a 13%decline, and 0.2 rating. But one should point out that to an extend some of those losses could be attributed to ESPNDeportes. ESPNDeportes is averaging 45,000 viewers for 10 MLS telecast. So, when add the two, you are getting something like 300K viewers watching MLS games.

ESPN2 strategy of putting MLS games after better lead-in programming has paid off in some instances. For example, the most viewed MLS game so far has been D.C. United game against Seattle Sounders. The final 38 minutes of the game was watched by 550K viewers, following an extra-innings college baseball game. So, that would roughly translate to a .5 rating on ESPN2 for that night. The other most viewed game was the 1st game of the season (in Seattle v. Red Bulls). That game was seen by something like more than 325K viewers/0.3 rating (if memory serves the best)..

The least watched game was a July 11 game between Columbus-Chicago that attracted 140K viewers.

I think we will some uptick with MLS games going forward with the Beckham games. As long as Beckham and the Galaxy play well, you will see atleast over 300K-350K viewers for those games, possibly reaching 400K. This should bring the average up a little. So, by the time the season is over, MLS ratings could negate the 13% decline (which is only 33k viewers from last season). ESPNDeportes ratings will increase going forward with more distribution. So, it is very possible that the Beckham games could get an additional 75K-100k viewers on ESPNDeportes.

As for Telefutura, they have averaged about 182,000 households so far this season, down from 292,000 households (a 37% decrease). I really think that 3:00 pm (EST) is a hard time to get viewers for an MLS game, during the heat of the summer. I hope one day, Univision/Telefutura will schedule MLS games on better time slot.

 

From recent ESPN press release, ESPNDeportes will become their fastest growing channel and a priority. Since ESPN and ESPN2, and ESPNews have reached their saturation point, ESPNDeportes has a long way to go. It seems like it is their goal to bring ESPNDeportes to the same level of distribution as any other major spanish network (except for Univision). So, we could see ESPNDeportes reaching the 50-70 million mark within the next few years. As for ESPN Classic, ESPN will be forced to change and re-brand the channel. ESPN Classic could become the International channel centering on covering soccer.

 

Dude, ESPNDeportes did about 35,000 viewers last year. I'm not trying to slant anything. The fact is that ESPNDeportes is very new to the market. ESPN will grow this channel (This is fact, this is no hype and gas). ESPNDeportes's distribution will increase just as Fox Soccer Channel is trying to reach to 50 million in the next 3 years (now at 35). But for the sake of conversation, you cannot ignore the 45,000 viewers on ESPNDeportes. Don't you think this is a logical assumption that some of the spanish speaking MLS fans that were watching MLS on ESPN2 have migrated to ESPNDeportes, thus a small decline in ratings for ESPN2? While the 45K is not a big in any sense, but in essence, ESPN2 MLS ratings are the same, and a small percentage of their viewers have migrated to ESPNDeportes to watch the games. There is no slant here, just plain commen sense.

The fact 550K were watching MLS is not a bad thing. What part you don't get my friend? It is recorded on Nielson's ratings, and that is all ESPN cares because for them it means that if you put a decent lead-in programming, you might have a better rating for MLS games as well.

To suffice, MLS ratings are nothing to brag about. It is pretty much the same, except for an occasional spike in ratings due to Beckham or decent match-up. I'm confident that you will see a little spike for MLS rating going into the 2nd half. Last weekend, the Seattle v. Chelsea game probably did ok in terms of ratings, you have 2 games scheduled for this saturday, and both are compelling match-ups on ESPN and ESPN2 (one involving Seattle on ESPN/the other with Beckham and the Galaxy story on ESPN2).

 

MLS ALL STARS TV RATINGS Update:

The 2009 MLS All-Star Game drew a 0.3 U.S. rating and 484,000 viewers on ESPN2 Wednesday night. The game was down 28% in households (324,000 in '09 versus 453,000 in '08), compared to last year's game on ESPN. So, MLS ALL star rating is above the regular MLS ratings tv ratings, but still has way to go.