The Nov. 5 match between LAFC and Philadelphia Union notched the event’s second-highest television rating in history and notably bested the Oct. 30 LigaMX final.
LAFC‘s thrilling penalty shootout win over the Philadelphia Union in MLS Cup on Saturday was the most-viewed edition of US and Canadian soccer’s top club championship game since 1997 and second-highest-rated match in the league’s 27-year history. It was the No. 2 most-viewed club soccer match of 2022 on US television in English behind the UEFA Champions League final on May 28.
The match drew 2.155 million viewers in the US alone on Fox and Univision. Viewership in the 18-29 demographic was 976,000, the fifth-highest-ever total for an MLS Cup. It also marks the most-watched MLS Cup in history for a game not played in prime time, with the match played in the 4 p.m. ET window.
The 2022 MLS Cup Final had the second-highest Spanish viewership ever, and the fifth-highest all-time in English. The combined viewership even outdrew the LigaMX Apertura final on Oct. 30, which had 1.94 million viewers.
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In Philadelphia, the game was the most-viewed Union game ever. That viewership peaked during the penalty kicks in the last 15 minutes of the match, when 26% of all TV viewers in the city were tuned in to Union-LAFC. In Los Angeles, it was the second-most watched LAFC match ever behind the 2019 playoff El Trafico game against the LA Galaxy.
The top 10 markets in English by household rating were Philadelphia (4.78), Houston (1.79), Portland (1.54), Austin (1.51), Los Angeles (1.35), Kansas City (1.14), Indianapolis (1.09), Cincinnati (1.07), Salt Lake City (1.06), Dallas-Ft. Worth (.95). The top 10 markets in Spanish by household range were Los Angeles (1.06), Houston (.94), San Antonio (.56), Dallas-Ft. Worth (.49), Chicago (.47), Miami-Ft. Lauderdale (.37), San Francisco-Oak-San Jose (.37), Denver (.34), Phoenix (.3), Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto (.3).
Digitally, MLSSoccer.com had its highest traffic day since 2017. On Twitter, #MLSCup peaked at number one on Twitter worldwide, including in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the UK. Gareth Bale‘s game-tying goal in stoppage time of extra time was the most discussed moment in MLS on social channels since 2020. Not surprisingly, Saturday was LAFC’s biggest sales day ever on MLSStore.com following its first ever MLS Cup title.
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