NBC, Peacock and NBC Sports’ digital platforms reported a record breaking 1.96 million average viewers for the Premier League game between Arsenal and Liverpool.
The record-breaking game between Liverpool and Arsenal took place at Anfield on 23 December 2023. A football match that resulted in a 1-1 draw now holds the record for the highest English speaking viewership of any EPL game in the US with 1.96 million average viewers with Peacock alone reporting 464,000 viewers.
A record that was previously held by Arsenal vs Manchester United on 22 January 2023 with an average of 1.92 million average English speaking viewers in the US. However, the game between Arsenal and Manchester United still holds the overall record for viewership in the US.
This is due to adding the total of Spanish speaking viewers from Telemundo, the Spanish speaking network that became the exclusive Spanish-language home for US Soccer in 2013.
When this is considered, the Arsenal vs Manchester United game totals 2.31 million viewers compared to the Liverpool vs Arsenal match that totals 2.28 million viewers.
Growth in viewership has drastically increased with the top five most viewed games all happening in 2023. Arsenal have taken part in three of those top five games, whilst Liverpool have taken part in two.
All five of these games have been on NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast. NBC also reported that the 2023 US Open was the most streamed golf event in its history.
Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United all have American based owners. Arsenal are owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, and the club has recently seen a huge increase in support in the country.
The increase in support can be attributed to decisions such as choosing North America as their location for pre-season tours, like Manchester United and Arsenal did prior to the 2023/24 season.
