Saturday’s MLS Cup Final proved to be a ratings success for the league, as the contest set new viewership records.
The match between Seattle Sounders FC and Toronto FC was watched by over 3.5 million viewers in the United States and Canada, giving the 2016 edition MLS Cup Final the highest rating in the game’s 21-season history. According to numbers from Nielsen Research, that marks a 177% increase over the 2015 MLS Cup Final. The 2016 MLS Cup Final was to first to air in a prime time slot on a Saturday.
n audience of 1,411,000 watched the league’s 21st championship match on FOX, while 601,000 viewed in Spanish on UniMás. In Canada, an audience of 1,430,000 watched on TSN, while 92,000 viewed in French on RDS.
The 3.534 million viewers is an all-time record for an MLS Cup match in the U.S. and Canada.
2016 MLS CUP TV VIEWERSHIP:
FOX 1,411,000 – Ranks as most-watched MLS Cup since 2001 (English language in the U.S.)
UniMás 601,000 – Ranks as the 2nd most-watched MLS Cup (Spanish language in the U.S.).
TSN 1,430,000 – All-time audience record for an MLS game on TSN/RDS.
RDS 92,000
Total 3,534,000
Soccer fans in Seattle tuned into 2016 MLS Cup in significant numbers, as the match generated a 9.9 household rating in Seattle. In addition, 170 countries viewed 2016 MLS Cup on networks throughout the world. 2016 MLS Cup also was broadcast live on SiriusXM.
Overall, 4.2 million individual Canadians watched some part of Saturday night’s championship game on TSN and RDS.
Photo of 2013 MLS All-Star Game by Brett Flanders via flickr.com.