Leon pushed Pachuca in the second period of extra time to win the Mexico’s first division Clausura tournament on Sunday night and UniMas/Univision Deportes topped Telemundo/mun2 in the ratings for the two matches between the clubs.
UniMas and Univision Deportes Network's May 18 simulcast of the Liga MX Clausara averaged 2.5 million viewers from 8:52 p.m. to 11:43 p.m. that night, according to Nielsen data. That made it the most-viewed club soccer match on any U.S. network in 2014, besting Barclays Premier League, UEFA Champions League and Major League Soccer action, among others, according to officials at network parent, Univision Communications. There was no breakdown between networks, with all of the viewership attributed to UniMas.
Leon’s 2-0 win, which gave them the Clausara title on aggregate, tallied 4.7 million viewers who saw some portion of the match, while averaging 1.6 million adults 18 to 49.
Sunday’s deliveries surpassed the 1.73 million viewers Telemundo garnered with its May 15 coverage of the opening leg of the two-game set that was won by Pachuca 3-2, which had stood as the most-watched Liga MX 2014 playoff matchup. That total included 991,000 of the abovementioned demos.
In addition, mun2’s simulcast in Spanish, delivering an additional 192,000 total viewers and 172,000 adults 18 to 49.
With Liga MX rights in the U.S., the networks telecast the home-team matches.
Starting next season, Telemundo holds the rights to both Leon and Pachuca, while Univision, which has scored the top ratings for all club soccer in the U.S. with its Liga MX coverage, will air the home matches from the circuit’s 16 other clubs.
