We’re just days from the UEFA Champions League Match between Manchester United and Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen live from Old Trafford, Tuesday, Sept. 17 (1 PM CDT) on Fox Sports 1. Manchester City and reigning victors of the prestigious club tournament, Bayern Munich, also take the field on Tuesday.
Maybe the giant size fan base of Manchester United and the high television ratings they generate can help bolster Fox Sports 1 ‘s way less than expected ratings?
United is by far the world’s most popular sports team. Some outlets estimate their fanbase as being approximately 353 million fans. However, The Guardian newspaper places it around 670 million fans. Manchester United certainly has the most Facebook fans with 32 million
And Fox Sports 1 could badly use the ratings boost. Way less people are watching that channel than even the worst projections assumed. No one thought they’d compete with ESPN right from the start, but they are getting CRUSHED by Bristol. They’re also behind ESPN 2, NFL Network, and MLB Network. They are slightly ahead of Golf Channel and NBC Sports Network. ESPNU and NBA TV follow to bottom out the pack.
It’s only one match. But it would provide at least one day of good ratings for Fox Sports 1. They would also do themselves, and the entire sports media consumption world a favor by pulling the plug on Crowd Goes Wild, a train wreck which registered a 0.1 rating.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An analyst for 95.7 The Fan, he also writes on Chicago sports media for Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) and Facebook.