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2016 MLS TV Ratings


masster

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Week 1:    RBNY v Toronto - TSN4 - 96,000
                 Vancouver v Montreal - TSN1/3 - 205,000

Week 2:    Sporting KC v Vancouver - TSN2 - unknown (did not crack top 25, less than 111,000)
                 NYCFC v Toronto - SN1 - 62,000

Week 3:    Seattle v Vancouver - TSN1 - unknown (did not crack top 30, less than 126,000)
                 Sporting KC v Toronto - TSN2 - unknown (did not crack top 30, less than 126,000)

Week 4:    Vancouver v Houston - TSN2 - unknown (did not crack top 19, less than 112,000)

Week 5:    Colorado v Toronto - TSN2 - unknown (did not crack top 27, less than 92,000)
                 Vancouver v LA - TSN2 - unknown (did not crack top 27, less than 92,000)

Week 6:    New England v Toronto - TSN2 - unknown (did not crack top 20, less than 133,000)
                 DC United v Vancouver - TSN1 - unknown (did not crack top 20, less than 133,000)

Week 7:    DC United v Toronto - TSN4 - unknown (did not crack top 27, less than 104,000)
                 Real Salt Lake v Vancouver - TSN1(?) - unknown (did not crack top 27, less than 104,000)

Week 8:    Montreal v Toronto - TSN4/5 - unknown (did not crack top 20, less than 97,000)
                 Vancouver v Dallas - TSN1/4/5 - unknown (did not crack top 20, less than 97,000)

Week 9:    NYCFC v Vancouver - TSN1 - unknown (did not crack top 25, less than 114,000)
                 Portland v Toronto - TSN4 (1/3 joined in progress) - unknown (did not crack top 25, less than 114,000)

Week 10:  Vancouver v Portland - TSN1/4 - unknown (did not crack top 24, less than 102,000)
                 Toronto v Dallas - TSN1/4 - 107,000

Week 11:  Montreal v Philadelphia - TSN1/3/4/5 - unknown (did not crack top 20, less than 101,000)
                 Toronto v Vancouver - TSN1/3/4 - 162,000

Week 12:  Toronto v Columbus - SN360 - unknown (did not crack top 22, less than 110,000)
                 Orlando v Montreal - TSN2 - unknown (did not crack top 22, less than 110,000)
                 Portland v Vancouver - TSN1 - 127,000

Week 13:  Vancouver v Houston - TSN1/3/4/5 - 134,000
                 RBNY v Toronto - SN360 - unknown (did not crack top 20, less than 107,000)

Week 14:  Vancouver v New England - TSN(?) - unknown (did not crack top 19, less than 104,000)
                 Toronto v LA - SN360 - unknown (did not crack top 19, less than 104,000)

Week 15:  Philadelphia v Vancouver - TSN(?) - unknown (did not crack top 15, less than 136,000)
                 Orlando v Toronto - SN360 - unknown (did not crack top 15, less than 136,000)

Week 16:  Montreal v New England - TSN(?) - 143,000
                 Toronto v Seattle - TSN(?) - unknown (did not crack top 16, less than 143,000)

Week 17:  Toronto v Chicago - TSN(?) - unknown (did not crack top 22, less than 119,000)
                 Vancouver v Colorado - TSN(?) - unknown (did not crack top 22, less than 119,000)

Week 18:  Vancouver v Orlando - TSN1/4 - 198,000
                 San Jose v Toronto - SN1/360 - unknown (did not crack top 11, less than 133,000)
                 Montreal v NYCFC - TSN1/3/4/5 - unknown (did not crack top 11, less than 133,000)

Week 19:  Toronto v DC United - SN360 - unknown (did not crack top 16, less than 122,000)
                 Houston v Vancouver - TSN2 - unknown (did not crack top 16, less than 122,000)

Week 20:  Dallas v Vancouver - TSN2 - unknown (did not crack top 21, less than 114,000)
                 Toronto v Columbus - SN360 - unknown (did not crack top 21, less than 114,000)

Week 21:  Toronto v New England - SN360 - unknown (did not crack top 16, less than 127,000)
                 Colorado v Vancouver - TSN2 - unknown (did not crack top 16, less than 127,000)

Week 22:  Vancouver v San Jose - TSN1/4/5 - unknown (did not crack top 18, less than 387,000)
                 Houston v Toronto - TSN4 - unknown (did not crack top 18, less than 387,000)

Week 23:  Philadelphia v Toronto - SN360 - unknown (did not crack top 22, less than 92,000)
                 Sporting KC v Vancouver - TSN1 - unknown (did not crack top 22, less than 92,000)

Week 24:  Toronto v Montreal - TSN1/4/5 - 116,000
                 LA v Vancouver - TSN1/4/5 - unknown (did not crack top 19, less than 104,000)

Week 25:  Vancouver v RBNY - TSN1 - unknown (did not crack top 16. less than 100,000)

Week 26:  Columbus v Vancouver - TSN2 - unknown (did not crack top 25, less than 147,000)
                 Toronto v Chicago - SN360 - unknown (did not crack top 25, less than 147,000)

Week 27:  Seattle v Vancouver - TSN1 - unknown (did not crack top 25, less than 102,000)
                 Montreal v New England - TSN2 - unknown (did not crack top 25, less than 102,000)
                 Toronto v RBNY - TSN2 - unknown (did not crack top 25, less than 102,000)

Week 28:  Toronto v Philadelphia - TSN2 - unknown (did not crack top 18, less than 107,000)
                 Vancouver v Colorado - TSN1/3/4/5 - unknown (did not crack top 18, less than 107,000)

Week 29:  Toronto v DC United - TSN2 - unknown (did not crack top 25, less than 100,000)
                 Vancouver v Seattle - TSN2 - unknown (did not crack top 25, less than 100,000)

Week 30:  No Canadian MLS teams in action - international break

Week 31:  Montreal v Toronto - TSN2 - unknown (did not crack top 18, less than 104,000)
                 San Jose v Vancouver - TSN2 - unknown (did not crack top 18, less than 104,000)

Week 32:  Toronto v Chicago - TSN4 - unknown (did not crack top 20, less than 105,000)
                Vancouver v Portland - TSN1 - unknown (did not crack top 20, less than 105,000)

Playoff ratings:  Toronto v NYCFC - 238,000
                          Montreal v RBNY - 112,000
                          NYCFC v Toronto - 221,000
                          RBNY v Montreal - 181,000

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Ratings really depend on what channel the game gets farmed off to.  And, mls games (unlike hockey for example)  often end up on channels that are not part of a basic package (which means very low subscriber rates) or that people cant easily find.  

Wanna watch a hockey game on saturday night?  then tune in to the CBC.  Every canadian knows that and nobody has to ask.  Its similar with baseball and sportsnet.    But with soccer (specifically for TFC),  unless you are a diehard fan, you have to know that the game is on and you have to look up what channel its on.   And, often it might end up on a channel with low subscribers or a channel that few other thans sports fans are familiar with. 

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Week 5 ratings: https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/eh-game/the-great-canadian-ratings-report--blue-jays-off-to-record-start-on-sportsnet-175542883.html

Not one MLS game has been broadcast across the country on the entire TSN network this season. Just TSN 2 or a regional channel. Are the ratings awful because of this? Or is this justified because the ratings are awful?

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How many people still have cable?  I personally don't have cable anymore, so I wouldn't count as viewer.  So it's hard to say how accurate it is to judge viewership numbers these days.  

 

Also, times are changing where cable TV is dying so these TV rating numbers are going to become less relevant.  

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Cable penetration has slowly fallen but still around 90% in Canada.

And so while tv watching may become less, if leagues & telcos aren't making similar money off the interwebs, losing tv viewers is for now a hit to the bottom line for both. And if the trend continues, the gray train from the telcos to North American sports leagues will stop.

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  • 2 weeks later...

As a basic cable subscriber, I will tell you if it wasn't for sports, I wouldn't keep my cable subscription.

Anyways, looks like the only game pulling in decent ratings is when two Canadian teams play. One would hope this is a sign that the CPL might be attractive to Canadian cable networks.

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Week 6 ratings: https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/eh-game/amid-bleak-tv-sports-returns--blue-jays-ratings-one-of-the-few-bright-spots-202151231.html

Week 7 ratings: https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/eh-game/the-great-canadian-ratings-report--nhl-ratings-tank-as-blue-jays-and-raptors-rise-194358148.html

It almost feels pointless keeping up this thread. None of these MLS games are getting enough viewers to crack the weekend top lists. Let's see what happens with an all Canadian match up this weekend.

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So that has to be the most disappointing rating of the year...all Canadian match up with Drogba and Giovinco playing, first match at a sold out Saputo for the season, less than 97,000. I can't really believe it to be honest. Can that really be correct?

Week 8 ratings: https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/eh-game/the-great-canadian-ratings-report--where-did-the-raptors-fans-go-213013737.html

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The match faced stiff competition from Raptors game at the same time and some leftover Jays action. The Yahoo report doesn't only include French tv ratings.

Cord cutters need to be considered but as I noted above, cable penetration rate is 90% in Canada. And Premier League match in a less favourable Sunday morning slot had the higher ratings.

So, yes there are always excuses but MLS consistently hasn't made the top 25 weekend ratings list since MLS started in Canada. At the mainstream tv level, only World Cup & Euros are major league tv ratings generators for football. Premier and key Champions League matches provide solid numbers consistently. 

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I ditched MLS Live this year after getting a TSN Live cable login from some family members. It means I miss games if I'm not there to see them, but c'est la vie. I've been a cord cutter for several years now and I find my interest in sports declining in general year-over-year now that it has to compete with Netflix, the Internet, etc...

I say this as a MLS fan (and this applies triply for NASL, USL, etc) but it's pretty rare that a MLS game is that compelling a watch if you are not a big fan of the team playing. I'd say that's even true of most EPL games, but at least there's a base level of very high technical skill and top-class presentation in each EPL game that is not there in MLS. And then every second game is ruined by a bad referee decision or bad weather or one team had to fly 10,000 kilometers and is phoning the game or they are playing at Yankee Stadium or in front of 9000 fans in Houston in 40 degree heat and so on.

I'm not sure what MLS can really do about this. They've done well to grow the game and the level of play is decent but watching the 20th best soccer league in the world on television isn't that great a proposition in a 2016 media landscape. It's very possible that the death of the NASL, which was around when there was still room in the culture, may have permanently prevented domestic club soccer from becoming a truly major part of the North American sports landscape.

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Week 9 ratings: https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/eh-game/the-great-canadian-ratings-report--raptors-set-record--but-still-can-t-top-nhl-draft-lottery-200837118.html

Again, nothing from MLS. Although interesting to see that the Manchester United v Leicester City match pulled a rating of 299,000. Very good for an EPL game.

Will be interested to see if the TFC home opener at the new BMO field can pull in a decent number.

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4 hours ago, masster said:

Week 9 ratings: https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/eh-game/the-great-canadian-ratings-report--raptors-set-record--but-still-can-t-top-nhl-draft-lottery-200837118.html

Again, nothing from MLS. Although interesting to see that the Manchester United v Leicester City match pulled a rating of 299,000. Very good for an EPL game.

Will be interested to see if the TFC home opener at the new BMO field can pull in a decent number.

Interesting? That was a game that could've decided the prem and was talked about all over mainstream Canadian news channels for the Cinderella story surrounding it. If there was any Prem game that would have drawn really well, this would have been the one.

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3 hours ago, Macksam said:

Interesting? That was a game that could've decided the prem and was talked about all over mainstream Canadian news channels for the Cinderella story surrounding it. If there was any Prem game that would have drawn really well, this would have been the one.

Given that it was an early morning start time (7:30 AM MST if I recall), I think those numbers are pretty decent.

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6 hours ago, Macksam said:

Interesting? That was a game that could've decided the prem and was talked about all over mainstream Canadian news channels for the Cinderella story surrounding it. If there was any Prem game that would have drawn really well, this would have been the one.

Yes, I find the fact that an EPL game got almost 300,000 viewers on Canadian television at 9:30am EST on Sunday morning interesting. 

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9 minutes ago, masster said:

Yes, I find the fact that an EPL game got almost 300,000 viewers on Canadian television at 9:30am EST on Sunday morning interesting. 

Interesting in what sense? It certainly isn't a head turner given the circumstances I listed. If you're saying it's interesting because it drew a good number and shows televised soccer can produce great results on Canadian TV, I'll double that and say very interesting as well.

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2 hours ago, shermanator said:

Given that it was an early morning start time (7:30 AM MST if I recall), I think those numbers are pretty decent.

No doubt. The fact the number was good isn't in question. It's the interesting part about it that was. ;)

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On 5/5/2016 at 10:06 AM, Macksam said:

Interesting in what sense? It certainly isn't a head turner given the circumstances I listed. If you're saying it's interesting because it drew a good number and shows televised soccer can produce great results on Canadian TV, I'll double that and say very interesting as well.

I wouldn't say it was a head turner, but a bit better than I expected. I would have predicted something in the 200-250,000 range. So 20-25% more than that is significant in my eyes. Just goes to show what a good story and a little promotion on the part of TSN can do. 

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On May 6, 2016 at 2:47 PM, masster said:

I wouldn't say it was a head turner, but a bit better than I expected. I would have predicted something in the 200-250,000 range. So 20-25% more than that is significant in my eyes. Just goes to show what a good story and a little promotion on the part of TSN can do. 

Yeah, no doubt. The future is exciting for the sport in this country.

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