Liverpool-Arsenal clash sets US record as most-watched English-language Premier League broadcast
The Premier League match between Liverpool and Arsenal on December 23 set a new milestone as the most-watched English-language broadcast in the history of the Premier League in the United States.
Airing on NBCUniversal’s NBC and NBC Sports channels, as well as the Peacock streaming service, the game drew a staggering 1.96 million viewers, surpassing all previous English-language Premier League broadcasts in the US.
The top five most-watched English-language Premier League broadcasts in the US were all occurring in 2023, have been exclusively on NBCUniversal, Comcast’s owned network. Three of these top-five fixtures, including the Liverpool-Arsenal clash on December 23 that finished in a 1-1 draw, featured Arsenal, while two showcased Liverpool.
Factoring in the Spanish-language broadcast viewership on NBC’s Telemundo, the match reached a total of 2.28 million viewers, ranking as the second highest in the all-language Premier League broadcast history. It falls just behind last year’s January 22 meeting between Arsenal and Manchester United, which drew 2.31 million total viewers – albeit with fewer English-language viewers.
On the Peacock streaming service, the Liverpool versus Arsenal clash achieved an average minute audience of 464,000, slightly below the 509,000 recorded by the Liverpool versus Manchester United game on December 17. Nevertheless, it still stands as the second-most streamed match of the 2023-24 season.
The substantial viewership reflects the Premier League’s robust growth in the US, supported by NBC’s significant investment of $2.7 billion in 2021 to secure the Premier League broadcasting rights until 2028. Beyond the broadcast deal, NBCUniversal is deeply engaged with the league, as seen with the Premier League’s strategic advisory role in a sports technology accelerator program announced in June.
The Premier League’s involvement allows it to guide and advise start-ups selected for the program and participate in the selection process for future editions of the initiative, currently in its third iteration.
