The English Premier League continues to score for NBCSN. Sunday’s classic rivalry game between Liverpool and Manchester United drew 950,000 viewers at 9 a.m. ET. And combine that with the Hispanic audience on NBCUniverso, the game was seen by almost 1.2 million viewers across the country.
For NBCSN, the game is the most-watched Premier League contest in the very early morning window. Viewership peaked at 1.2 million viewers in the 10:45 a.m. quarter-hour.
In addition, Liverpool-Manchester United garnered 78-thousand unique streams on the NBC Sports Live Extra app. That’s the second-most streamed match for NBC.
The viewership was the third-highest for an English Premier League fixture in the U.S.
| Date | Home v. Away | Network | Viewers |
| Mon., Apr. 30, 2012 | Manchester City v. Manchester United | ESPN | 1.0 million |
| Sun., Jan. 19, 2014 | Chelsea v. Manchester United | NBCSN | 1.0 million |
| Sun., Mar. 22, 2015 | Liverpool v. Manchester United | NBCSN | 950,000 |
| Sun., Oct. 5, 2014 | Chelsea v. Arsenal | NBCSN | 874,000 |
| Sun., Sept. 22, 2013 | Manchester City v. Manchester United | NBCSN | 852,000 |
Despite the NBCSN/NBCUniverso numbers for Liverpool-Manchester United, it was not the most-watched soccer game of the weekend. World Soccer Talk notes the El Clasico rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid drew over 2.1 million total viewers on beIN Sports en Español (1.353 million) and beIN Sports (755,000).
This goes to show that there’s interest in soccer especially for classic rivalries. And as bidding begins next month for the U.S. rights for the English Premier League, expect there to be some interested bidders for the contract as the content continues to drive viewers to their TV’s at breakfast time.
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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.