First, let’s take a look at the World Cup ratings. You may recall watching the World Cup at 10am Eastern and 2pm Eastern, maybe even 8am eastern…..and you may have been one of the many who watched the final on Sunday morning.
Argentina’s shootout victory over France averaged 25.78 million viewers Sunday morning, the most ever for a men’s match in the U.S. Fox Sports drew 16.78 million viewers, and Telemundo’s Spanish-language telecast, which also streamed on Peacock, had 9 million cross-platform viewers. (Via the Hollywoood Reporter)
As a comparison:
The games of the 2022 World Series, in which the Houston Astros defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in a six-game series, had an average rating of 6.1. The average TV viewership for the 2022 World Series stood at 11.8 million viewers. (via Statista)
Anyway, everyone is all hopped up about soccer, so it’s a great time to announce the MLS TV Deal.
I got a text from a friend complaining the New England Revolution don’t have a single day game.
Then I saw the NYCFC’s (coming soon to near a casino near you!) released their schedule and yep, not a single day game.
Similarly, the Red Bulls have all their home games at 7:30
So a few thoughts here….
I get that Apple and the league want to have a consistent MLS window. Hey that works pretty well for the National Football League, and in soccer-land The Premier League. So I get it.
However – I also get that it’s cold in March. Want to sit in Yankee Stadium on March 11th at night? I don’t.
Anyone out there have kids? So this is always a tough call – the kids most likely to be interested in attending a soccer game are PLAYING soccer on Saturday. I know that was a challenge in my household.
But from the dad standpoint – and I am the one with the car – I don’t want to go to an event that starts at 7:30. It just sounds late to this Old Man. I am sure the Astoria Hipsters won’t mind taking the 7 train over to 126th in a few years (or half the time this year), and they can even hang at the Casino afterward….but do I want to deal with Harrison NJ at the end of the day? Nope.
From a TV standpoint, this league needs to lean on stars and build stars. If Messi comes to Miami then the hype every single week should be Messi vs. Other Team’s star. Like the NFL does. It’s “Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.”
Anyway – I think in the heat of summer these Saturday night games are fine, but March and April? Insane for attendance – but hey maybe not for TV. It’s not like I am going to watch baseball….but would a day game or two kill you? Even THE METS schedule one Saturday day game in April, and they are not the sharpest tools in the shed.
To conclude my rant I will point out that the 7am Pacific soccer game did well on Sunday. The Super Bowl also does well at 3:30 Pacific. Baseball? They want you to stay up past midnight. I choose not to.
