PORTLAND, OR – MARCH 03: Portland Timbers mascot ‘Timber Joey’ cuts a ‘Timber slice’ after they scored a goal during the second half of the match against the Minnesota United at Providence Park on March 3, 2017 in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers won the game 5-1. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)

Major League Soccer is back and it has a couple of new teams, one of which made its debut on FS1 last Friday. The Portland Timbers hosted the expansion Minnesota United and it resulted in a 5-1 blowout in favor of Portland.

Sports TV Ratings noted that the game didn’t draw too well on the Fox Sports Group networks:

So overall, an estimated 235,000 viewers watched the match. Last season, the average audience for MLS on U.S. TV averaged 292,365 viewers so FS1 was off to a slow start.

World Soccer Talk notes that the weak numbers for MLS in Friday primetime were beaten by an English Premier League August Friday afternoon game:

In comparison, the August 19 game between Manchester United and Southampton that was televised live on a Friday afternoon during office hours (3-5pm ET) was watched by 348,000 viewers on the USA Network.

Certainly Fox was hoping for better numbers than a viewership of 235,000. It can argue that it was the season debut and there was competition from college basketball and the NBA in the same time slots.

In addition, the game was in a non-traditional slot for FS1. The network usually airs MLS on Sunday nights.

With more MLS games on the horizon, Fox hopes the numbers can only go up as the season progresses. Time will tell if this will be a trend or just an aberration.

[World Soccer Talk]

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013.

He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television.

Fang celebrates the four Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.