2022 MLS Cup Draws Near-Record Viewership

Major League Soccer drew its biggest audience in 25 years for the 2022 MLS Cup.

LAFC’s win over the Philadelphia Union Saturday generated 2.155 million average viewers across Fox Sports and Univision in the U.S., according to sources.

The championship match’s combined viewership (English and Spanish) was up 38% from last season — the second-best number since the league was formed in 1996 and trailing only the D.C. United vs. Colorado Rapids match in 1997.

Only the UEFA Champions League Final on May 28 drew more viewers on English language TV among club soccer matches this season. 

• The match ranked fifth all-time in English language viewership.
• Univision delivered the second-highest Spanish language viewership ever. 
• On linear TV, Fox posted its second-most-watched MLS Cup in its history.
• The telecast was the most-viewed Union match of all time in the Philadelphia TV market, and in the Los Angeles market, it ranked as the second most-watched LAFC match.

The numbers didn’t stop there: MLSsoccer.com posted its highest traffic since 2017, and the hashtag #MLSCUP peaked at No. 1 on Twitter Worldwide and No. 1 in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.

This all builds on MLS’ best regular season to date: The league drew record attendance numbers (over 10M) and Disney networks saw the highest average viewership (356,000) for people aged 2 and up.