November 6 – Last Sunday’s Clásico between Barcelona and Real Madrid drew an average of 2.4 million US viewers across ABC and ESPN Deportes, the most-watched Clásico and LaLiga match in US history.
That’s more than double last season’s El Clasico audience of 1.1 million viewers as fans enjoyed a classic game that saw Real run out 2-1 winners.
The combined viewing of LaLiga in English and Spanish is up 50% year-on-year to Matchday 10, with an average of 142,000 viewers. The biggest growth has come among children ages 2-17, up 84 percent, adults 18-34, up 69 percent, and women, up 56 percent, according to ESPN.
He highlights the rise among children, and points to the effect of this summer’s World Cup. Nielsen research released last month showed the tournament added nearly 10 million US soccer fans in a year, with stronger growth among younger audiences.
ESPN has set several records this season. Alongside El Clásico, its English-language coverage marked Elche vs. Barcelona (1 million viewers) and Espanyol vs. Real Madrid (811,000) on Matchday 1. September’s Madrid derby drew 574,000 across ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+, ESPN’s most ever.
On ESPN Deportes, average viewing is up 12%, led by kids (up 50%) and adults 18-34 (up 26%).
There is still a long way to go to take the Premier League. NBC and USA Network’s viewership remains more than three times the LaLiga average, and English soccer has also grown strongly among young viewers.
But the trend is clear, and it helps LaLiga in a difficult week. Broadcast coverage of the league in China was suspended after Kylian Mbappé’s comments about Mao Zedong. The strong growth in the United States gives it an important market that is moving in the right direction.
ABC and ESPN will carry more LaLiga matches throughout the season as the league looks to build momentum.
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