Orlando City’s 1-1 tie at the Orlando Citrus Bowl against the Chicago Fire that aired on UniMas drew a national audience of 198,000 viewers according to SportsTVRatings.com. The number is down from last year’s second game of the season one year ago on March 13, 2015, when Orlando City’s game at Houston on UniMas drew 310,000 viewers on that Friday night.
The game had an additional 84,000 viewers on the cable channel Univision Deportes Network. If you include the UDN numbers, the total is 282,000 which is still down from last year’s game which was on UniMas only.
Last year, Orlando City games on UniMas averaged 269,000 viewers.
In fairness, so far all MLS national games are down this season compared to last season.
According to SportsMediaWatch.com, the MLS season opener on ESPN between the Portland Timbers and the Columbus Crew, a rematch of the MLS Cup, drew 362,000 viewers on ESPN. That was down one-third from last year’s opener between Orlando City/N.Y.C.F.C. on ESPN2 (539,000).
Later in the day, the Seattle Sounders vs Sporting Kansas City match had 267,000 on Fox Sports 1 — down a fraction of a percent from New York Red Bulls vs Sporting Kansas City in the same window last year (268,000).
Overall MLS season opening weekend viewers were down 11percent compared to last year according to WorldSoccerTalk.com.
It is early in the season but one of the questions will be if if the novelty of Orlando City last year was the reason for the big numbers and to expect decline in viewers this season?
It will be something to keep an eye on throughout the season.
