Gotham FC draw more television viewers than NYCFC: Report (Clarification Appended)

Note: Since the publication of this post, it became evident that then numbers cited here and on other websites are incomplete. The figures in the table below do not include any figures from MLS games broadcast on Apple TV, or NWSL games broadcast on Paramount+. In addition, the figures that are labeled as averages on the original table are in fact aggregates.

The numbers here are the total viewerships for a handful of games, not the average viewerships for every game despite being labeled “Total Average Viewership by Club or Team, 2023.”

We apologize for the confusion, but happy to provide this clarity.

The original post below remains unchanged.

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According to a post published in World Soccer Talk, New York City FC’s television audience is almost 67% larger that that of the New York Red Bulls.

The post features the Top 100 soccer teams by viewership in the United States, a list that includes all teams in all leagues throughout the world. The most-watched team in the United States is Club America in Liga MX, followed by Manchester City, Chivas de Guadalajara, Tigres UNAL, and Liverpool FC.

NYCFC: 779,000 viewers per game

NYCFC come in at #77, with an average viewership of 779,000. That’s good for 17th out of all MLS teams, putting New York City in the middle of the pack in the 29-team league. The New Jersey Red Bulls are at #94, with 467,000 viewers per game — that’s the same as FC Köln in the Bundesliga.

Both NYCFC and the Red Bulls trail Gotham FC at #75, with 817,000 viewers per match.

These numbers should be taken with many, many grains of salt. World Soccer Talk and AS rereported a list that originated in Helltown, a soccer blog by graphic designer Larry W. Johnson. Helltown compiles the self-reported viewership from broadcast and streaming services, but it’s unclear how the site accessed the numbers for MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. MLS and Apple TV are notoriously secretive about the size of their audiences.

However, in a November 2023 press conference, MLS executives claimed that “more than a million viewers” watched the season’s biggest games.

Either way, the numbers make for good reading. You can find the complete table here.

Inter Miami lead all MLS teams

Unsurprisingly, Inter Miami CF lead all MLS teams in broadcast audience. According to the report, Inter Miami are #39 among all teams with 4.9 million viewers per game, just behind Paris-Saint Germain (5 million), and well ahead of Southampton FC (4.3 million).

LAFC have the second-highest viewership in MLS, with an average audience of 3.58 million per game.

MLS Teams by 2023 US Broadcast Audience

Seattle Reign lead all NWSL teams

Now known as the Seattle Reign, OL Reign’s broadcast audience of 1.5 million viewers per game in 2023 lead all NWSL teams — and all but 10 MLS teams.

Five of the league’s 12 teams made the Top 100.

NWSL Teams by 2023 US Broadcast Audience

Liga MX, the Premiere League, and Wrexham

Also unsurprisingly, teams from Liga MX and the Premier League dominate the list. They combine for 23 of the Top 25 (Barcelona FC and Real Madrid complete the list), and 38 of the Top 50.

As for the only team not in a top-flight league to make the list, mighty Wrexham AFC, which competed in England’s semi-professional National League last year, averaged 581,000 viewers per match, which landed them at #84. Funny what an 18-episode hit docudrama will do for your audience.