Nielsen: FC Cincinnati scored solid TV ratings among soccer fans, but ...

Alexander Coolidge | Cincinnati Enquirer

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FC Cincinnati finished its inaugural season in Major League Soccer in last place – but it scored big time versus other soccer teams in television ratings.

While the team drew only a fraction of the TV audience as Cincinnati's established pro teams, FC Cincinnati was the third-highest watched professional soccer team in 2019, according to Nielsen.

More than 12,000 local households tuned in to watch FC Cincinnati during the 34 games played between March and October, according to Nielsen.

Nielsen gave FC Cincinnati a 1.5 "HH" rating; that means the team drew 1.5% of 828,000 viewing households in Cincinnati.

Nielsen didn't disclose ratings for the 23 other major league soccer teams.

The Cincinnati Reds averaged a TV audience more than three times FC Cincinnati with 5.1% of households (indicating an average 42,000 local households), according to Nielsen. The Cincinnati Bengals commanded a 27.1HH rating (indicating nearly 225,000 households tune in), an 18-to-1 advantage over FC Cincinnati ratings.

FC Cincinnati's local ratings did beat viewing of other established sports on TV: it edged out the National Hockey League's semi-finals; they drew twice the local number of households watching NASCAR racing; and five times the viewers as broadcasts from golf's PGA Tour.

"We’re excited about where we are and the growth that is ahead for both the team and MLS," said Vince Cicero, FC Cincinnati's senior vice president of partnerships and broadcasting.

Cicero noted the local ratings don't include viewership via streaming services: FloSports within the region and on ESPN+ outside of Greater Cincinnati. He added seven of the 34 games were nationally televised, so they reached an even broader audience.

Local sports and media pros said the numbers were a solid start for a newbie team, especially when compared to other soccer teams.

"For a new team to rank that high (among their peers) it shows there's a lot of interest in the team and how they perform," said Alicia Cintron, a sports administration professor at the University of Cincinnati.

"It's a promising start," agreed Bruce Drushel, chairman of the Media, Journalism and Film Department at Miami University.

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So how do FC Cincinnati ratings compare to other programming it competed against during the season?

The answers reflect the splintered audience:

Jeopardy averaged more than 85,000 local households, drawing more than 10% of the local audience – nearly seven times FC Cincinnati's draw.

Wheel of Fortune won 5.7% of households.

'Judge Judy' was viewed by 4.3% of local audiences.

Aside from local news, FC Cincinnati's other toughest competition came from reruns, such as 'How I Met Your Mother' and 'Two and a Half Men,' which averaged less than 1% of local households.

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