AUSTIN, Texas — More eyes in the U.S. tuned into Austin FC's inaugural MLS match than any other soccer game throughout the weekend, including the U.S. Women's National Team against France and Premier League matches.
According to ShowBuzzDaily, which posts the weekly TV numbers for sporting events, the broadcast for Austin FC against LAFC garnered approximately 485,000 viewers. The next highest-viewed soccer match in the U.S. was ABC's Sunday broadcast of Inter Miami vs. LA Galaxy, which got 482,000 viewers.
Austin FC's first match, which resulted in a 2-0 loss, outlasted two Premier League matches on Sunday (Burnley vs. Manchester United and Fulham vs. Arsenal) and the dominant U.S. Women's National Team against France from Tuesday afternoon.
More people watched Austin FC take on LAFC than every televised Major League Baseball game for the week except for the Sunday Night Baseball primetime game between the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs, which had 1.5 million viewers.
These numbers from ShowBuzzDaily also don't account for the thousands of Austinites that attended watch parties, such as the two KVUE highlighted at Hopsquad Brewing and Circle Brewing in North Austin. The club also hosted an official watch party at the Long Center in South Austin.
Austin FC will hit the road again in its second match, where the club will kick off against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, April 24. Austin FC's official watch party for the Colorado Rapids match is at 3TEN.
For the latest Austin FC coverage, visit kvue.com/austinfc.
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