6th November 2026
November 6 – Last Sunday’s El Clásico between Barcelona and Real Madrid drew an average of 2.4 million US viewers across ABC and ESPN Deportes, the most-watched Clásico and LaLiga match in US history.
That is more than double last season’s first Clásico audience of 1.1 million as fans enjoyed a classic match that saw Real run out 2-1 winners.
Combined English and Spanish-language LaLiga viewing is up 50% year on year through Matchday 10, averaging 142,000 viewers. The biggest growth has come among children aged 2-17, up 84%, adults 18-34, up 69%, and women, up 56%, according to ESPN.
The rise among children stands out, and points to the effect of this summer’s World Cup. Nielsen research released last month showed the tournament added nearly 10 million US soccer fans in a year, with growth strongest among younger audiences.
ESPN has recorded several records this season. Alongside the Clásico, its English-language coverage set marks with Elche against Barcelona (1 million viewers) and Espanyol against Real Madrid (811,000) on Matchday 1. September’s Madrid derby drew 574,000 across ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+, ESPN’s most-watched ever.
On ESPN Deportes, average viewing is up 12%, led by children (up 50%) and adults 18-34 (up 26%).
There is still a long way to go to catch the Premier League. NBC and USA Network’s audiences remain more than three times higher than LaLiga’s average, and English football has grown strongly among young viewers too.
But the trend is clear, and it helps LaLiga in a difficult week. The league’s broadcast coverage in China was suspended after Kylian Mbappé’s comments about Mao Zedong. Strong US growth gives it an important market moving in the right direction.
ABC and ESPN will carry more LaLiga matches through the season as the league looks to build on the momentum.
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