The World Cup may be over, but soccer continues to draw strong viewership. A USL Championship match following the World Cup recorded the second-highest TV audience in USL history.
The Pittsburgh Riverhounds-Louisville City FC match on July 18 averaged 453,000 viewers. That is the second-highest recorded audience in USL history. The 2024 USL Championship Final averaged 606,000 viewers on CBS.
Viewership for Pittsburgh-Louisville was only slightly lower than MLS in primetime on Fox the day before. Nashville-Atlanta averaged 587,000 viewers on Fox. However, unlike the USL, MLS airs all of its games on streaming via Apple TV, meaning it’s unclear how many additional viewers watched on the streamer.
The USL, which operates below MLS in the U.S. soccer pyramid, is attempting to compete with the higher-level league. Its newest media rights deal includes over-the-air exposure on CBS and cable broadcasts on ESPN and CBS Sports Network. MLS has an over-the-air deal with Fox, but the network is not scheduled to air another MLS game until the MLS Cup.
In 2028, the USL plans to launch “USL Premier,” which would compete directly with MLS. Unlike MLS, however, USL Premier is scheduled to feature promotion and relegation from the USL Championship.
The USL Championship still has a way to go to compete with MLS fully. The 2025 MLS Cup averaged 994,000 viewers on Fox and Fox Deportes, which is more than any USL matchup on television. Viewership for the MLS Cup again does not include viewership on Apple TV.
But if this latest viewership mark is any indication, there appears to be momentum for the USL following the World Cup. If the USL wants to compete with MLS one day truly, it will need to continue building on this viewership success.
About Manny Soloway
Manny Soloway is a Iowa based writer focusing on TV ratings. He is also the founder of the TV Media Blog substack.