Beckham ratings so-so on Saturday
TV ratings of David Beckham’s debut with the L.A. Galaxy weren’t spectacular, but gave ESPN a boost.
Beckham made his debut Saturday night during an exhibition game against Chelsea on ESPN. Due to an ankle injury, he only played the final 12 minutes of the game. The game was sold out with 27,000 people in attendance.
ESPN reportedly scored the network’s highest ratings for a Major League Soccer game with about 1.5 million viewers. It’s the largest audience for an ESPN telecast involving a MLS team, according to Nielsen Media Research. The telecast was the night’s most watched show among men ages 18-49 and men 25-54.
Now, ESPN is planning on more L.A. Galaxy games, including two each in August and September and another on Oct. 18.
However, a sports business blog called “Everything But the Game,” reported that in relation to the rest of sports television over the weekend, the Galaxy game was only average at best. Four other broadcasts – the British Open, afternoon baseball, IRL Honday 200 auto race – all had higher ratings.