Rating Up 33 Percent vs. Last Year’s ESPN Season-Opener
ESPN’s season-opening MLS telecast of yesterday’s Seattle Sounders FC vs. Los Angeles Football Club – a 1-0 LAFC victory over the Sounders – averaged a 0.4 metered market rating, the best overnight rating for an ESPN Major League Soccer season opener in three years.
The 0.4 metered market rating is up 33 percent compared to the 0.3 rating for ESPN’s 2017 season-opener between Orlando City SC and New York City FC.
Overnight ratings for ESPN’s season-opening MLS telecasts:
| Year | Matchup | Metered Mkt Rating |
| 2016 | Portland Timbers FC vs. Columbus Crew SC | 0.3 |
| 2017 | Orlando City SC vs. NYC FC | 0.3 |
| 2018 | Seattle Sounders FC vs. LAFC | 0.4 |
Seattle-Tacoma was the top local market with a 2.4 rating. The rest of the top 10 include: Salt Lake City (0.9), Ft. Myers (0.8), Charlotte (0.7), Nashville (0.7), Kansas City (0.6), Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News (0.6), Portland (0.6), Oklahoma City (0.5) and Philadelphia (0.4).
Updated ratings and viewership numbers are expected early this week.
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