The 2026 MLS TV Thread

Nwsl and usl get on the main CBS sometimes, so that has to help. Bundesliga surely does worse.

 

But also with those broadcast games on CBS the total average numbers should be much lower.

 

Every World Cup player by city of birth.

https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/s/rpzAS325nD

 

Fox has announced the announcer pairings for the open round games:

Ahead of the start of the @FIFAWorldCup 2026 on June 11, @FOXSports today unveils announcer match assignments for the first week of the Group Stage.

🎙️🔗 https://t.co/MSV5vzLCya pic.twitter.com/DoCUyeRJB8

— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) June 5, 2026

 

2063315149105119684 is not a valid tweet id

 

With all these viewing parties in different cities in Mexico and USA I can’t wait to know the tv ratings numbers.

 

I am in Mexico City right now and I was at an event with no less than 10k people in just that place.

 

40k at LA coliseum

 

That sounds like a party.
When the Carolina Hurricanes played in Las Vegas in games 3 and 4, their home arena was packed, and there were thousands in the parking lots watching on a big screen too.

 

FOX is going to have some insane viewership numbers for this tournament. The time zone (obviously) could not be more perfect.

Over the next seven days, the earned media for the USMNT is going to be massive. If I had to guess the number for the first knockout game if the U.S.…

— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) June 13, 2026

Also, if anyone wants to know why BIG markets matter:

ABC delivered the largest NBA Finals Game 4 audience since 1998, averaging 20.9M viewers, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel.

Through four games, the 2026 NBA Finals are ABC and ESPN’s most-watched ever and the most-watched NBA Finals since 1998, averaging 19.6M viewers. It… pic.twitter.com/EQdb1zbUgN

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 12, 2026

 

Viewership in the U.S. for the opening match of the Men’s FIFA World Cup smashed records for FOX Sports.

The match, which saw Mexico top South Africa 2-0 had an average of 6.309 million viewers across FOX, FS1, and Tubi, making it the most-watched group stage match telecast in English where the U.S. Men’s Team (USMNT) was not playing in U.S. history, according to Nielsen’s fast nationals, Adobe, and Tubi analytics

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sportbible

1d
The World Cup opening match between Mexico and South Africa attracted over 1.42 billion viewers worldwide

 

But wait, the internet was celebrating this tournament's spectacular failure just this week

 

I saw a program from Mexico last night Los protagonists de TV Azteca they mentioned that 1.8 billion worldwide from the opening game.

 

They just mentioned in Fox, last night USMNT game had almost 16 million, and not including Telemundo and peacock

 

America showed up for the @USMNT 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/h8vXn8xabh

— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 13, 2026

 

Telemundo/Peacock averaged 8.9 million.

According to my fuzzy math that's an average of 24.886M.

 

World cup group stage > historically well watched NBA finals.

 

Fuzzy is the 25M being reported.

Thx,

Jay!

 

Seems the future of streaming has taken another turn.

FOX is buying Roku in a blockbuster $22 billion deal.

The merger combines FOX’s sports and news empire with Roku’s streaming platform, creating one of the largest TV and streaming companies in the U.S. and reaching more than 100 million households worldwide.

— Only In Boston (@OnlyInBOS) June 15, 2026

 

wow wow wow for Roku

 

Most watched NBA Finals since 1998:

ABC and ESPN scored the most-watched NBA Finals since 1998, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel. Saturday’s NBA Finals Game 5 on ABC delivered an average audience of 24.5M viewers and peaked with 33M viewers watching the closing moments of the Knicks Championship victory. It… pic.twitter.com/QNkezipYRE

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 16, 2026

Final number for USA-Paraguay:

With all the data counted, Fox's official viewership for #USMNT vs. Paraguay is in: 18,037,000.

A fraction short of the record for an English-language broadcast of a men's soccer game of any kind in U.S. history, 18,220,000 for U.S.-Portugal in 2014 on ESPN.

— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) June 16, 2026

 

Brazil-Morocco most watched WC Group Stage Game not involving the USA, 10 Million + viewers:

Fox says its Brazil-Morocco broadcast drew 10,019,000 viewers.

That is the largest audience for a World Cup group stage game not involving a U.S. team in U.S. broadcast history, and the first such game to draw over 10 million viewers.

— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) June 16, 2026

 

Morew World Cup Viewership numbers:

Off and running: Through Sunday, FIFA World Cup 2026 is averaging 6,656,000 viewers across FOX, FS1 & Tubi. 🏆⚽️📺

Up +152% from the FIFA World Cup 2022 Group Stage telecast average across FOX & FS1 (2,638,000 viewers). 📈 pic.twitter.com/4wGdVRJ0eg

— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) June 16, 2026