TV ratings from the Barcelona vs Real Madrid game are in and just as expected, they are impressive. Reports claim that more than 2 million fans watched the 230th edition of El Clasico on beIN SPORTS.
It just comes to show how much soccer is growing in the United States. Considering that beIN SPORTS reaches 33 million homes across the country, knowing that 2.12 million viewers tuned in to watch the game is astonishing.
That number combines both English and Spanish language broadcasts. A total of 1.353 million watched it on beIN SPORTS en Español while the other 767,000 did son on beIN SPORTS (English).
It is a 16% increase in the viewership in English, compared to the last time both teams met in Madrid back in October. At the same time, 64% more viewers in Spanish compared to that same game.
It was from 5:30 to 5:45 PM that both networks registered its highest audience numbers. The English network had 968,000 total viewers in that time frame while 1.693 million viewers were registered watching the game at that time.
beIN SPORTS analysts at half-time
That is good news for the network who acquired the US TV rights to broadcast La Liga in 2012. They had a star-studded lineup for this game. Michel Salgado, Patrick Kluivert, Gary Bailey and Andres Cordero, along with Kay Murray were the analysts on studio. Phil Schoen and Ray Hudson were at Camp Nou.
Their contract expires this may and seeing those numbers might bring some serious competition for upcoming broadcasting negotiations. Univision Deportes Network might have the lead to move forward with the rights, at least in Spanish in the U.S. market.
