Let’s combine a couple of soccer notes here. First, the MLS Cup on Saturday was a hit on UniMás. It drew an average of 514,000 viewers on Univision’s secondary network. And it did better than ESPN’s airing of the same event at the same time by 14%. In addition, UniMás’ telecast did better in adults 18-49 which is a key demographic in TV.
For the season, UniMás outdrew both ESPN2 and NBCSN for total viewers on MLS games, 223,000 compared to 181,000 on ESPN2 and 104,000 on NBCSN.
And UniMás did better in several major cities including Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas and Chicago.
Here’s the Univision press release.
UNIMÁS’ BROADCAST OF THE MLS CUP FINAL OUT-DELIVERS ESPN IN TOTAL VIEWERS MARKING THE FIRST TIME A SPANISH LANGUAGE BROADCAST OF MLS FINAL BEATS THE ENGLISH BROADCAST
MLS Full Season on UniMás Delivers More Viewers than Both ESPN2 and NBC Sports Network
- UniMás’ broadcast of the MLS Cup Final which aired from 4 p.m. to 7:29 p.m. on Saturday, December 7, delivered an average of 514,000 Total Viewers and 245,000 Adults 18-49, out-delivering ESPN’s coverage of the same match by +14% with Total Viewers and by +7% with Adults 18-49.
- UniMás’ broadcasts of the Major League Soccer’s (MLS) 2013 regular season delivered more viewers than both ESPN2 and NBCSN.
- UniMás aired 23 MLS regular season games which delivered an average of 223,000 Total Viewers and 121,000 Adults 18-49, outperforming ESPN2 and NBCSN’s broadcast of regular season games. ESPN2 delivered an average of 181,000 Total Viewers and 96,000 Adults 18-49 and NBCSN delivered an average of 104,000 Total Viewers and 55,000 Adults 18-49, respectively.
- Locally, UniMás out-delivered coverage on NBCSN for the MLS regular season:
- Among Total Viewers in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco, Phoenix and Sacramento
- Among Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34 in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Phoenix and Sacramento
- Additionally, outperforming the combined coverage on ESPN/ESPN2 for the MLS regular season:
- Among Total Viewers in Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Phoenix and Sacramento
- Among Adults 18-49 in Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Phoenix and Sacramento
- Among Adults 18-34 in Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Phoenix and Sacramento
- UniMás’ broadcast of the MLS Cup Final on Saturday, December 7, 2013 out-delivered ESPN’s coverage of the same match:
- Among Total Viewers in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, Dallas and Chicago
- Among Adults 18-49 in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Chicago and Sacramento
- Among Adults 18-34 in Los Angeles, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Phoenix and Sacramento
- The UniMás MLS regular season viewer has a median age of 38 years, younger than the MLS viewer on ESPN2 (40 years), NBCSN (41 years), NBC (46 years), ESPN (43 years).
- UniMás MLS final had a median age of 36 years, younger than ESPN (41 years).
- Compared to 2012 finals, UniMás’ performance was up +6% with Total Viewers.
Source: The Nielsen Company, NPM, Live data. NSI, Live+SD Overnights MLS Final 12/07/2013 4-730p EST, 12/01/2012 445-715p EST. Regular season 03/13/2013-11/10/2013. Matches aired live across all time zones.
ESPN has some good news on the soccer front as well. The FIFA World Cup Draw which placed the 32 qualifying teams into eight groups of four gave the Alleged Worldwide Leader its best audience ever for the event. An average of 489,000 people watched ESPN2 to see where the United States and the 31 other teams would be placed. The previous high was the 1994 draw for the 1994 World Cup which was played in the US and that saw an average of 364,000 viewers.
The event also drew a 0.3 rating. Here are the details from ESPN.
Record Audience for ESPN2’s FIFA World Cup Draw
Last Friday’s Final Draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup on ESPN2 averaged 489,000 viewers and 353,000 households, based on a 0.3 U.S. household rating, making it the most-watched FIFA World Cup Draw on the ESPN networks, according to Nielsen Media.
The audience grew by 34 percent in viewers and 14 percent in households over the previous high for a World Cup Draw on ESPN’s networks. The 1994 World Cup Draw held in Las Vegas on Sunday, Dec. 19, 1993 was seen by an average 364,000 viewers and 309,000 television households.
The Draw telecast for Brazil 2014 featured host Bob Ley and pundits Michael Ballack, Alexi Lalas, Steve McManaman and Santiago Solari analyzing the placement of the 32 World Cup finalists into eight groups of four teams for the round robin matches in the group stage. The U.S. Men’s National Team drew Germany, Ghana and Portugal in Group G. The Mexican Men’s National Team was placed in Group A with host nation Brazil, Cameroon and Croatia.
The top five markets were: Las Vegas (1.2), Baltimore (0.8), Miami (0.8), Cincinnati (0.8) and Orlando (0.7).
There you have it.
