It was a record viewership day for Major League Soccer and FOX on Thanksgiving Day. The network saw nearly 2 million viewers tune in to an MLS Cup Playoff match following the Chicago Bears victory over the Lions in Detroit's traditional holiday NFL game.

Thanksgiving Day is usually the NFL's day, outside of Super Bowl Sunday, to shine on America's televisions. MLB has the 4th of July, the NBA over the last decade and a half has claimed its stake on Christmas Day, and one could argue that New Year's Day is one of the NHL's biggest TV days with the Winter Classic. But typically NFL games are always associated with Thanksgiving Day.

MLS continues to grow its viewership, especially as the league expands into new media markets. In recent seasons you've seen expansion teams pop up in Minneapolis, Miami, Nashville and Austin, with Charlotte set to become the league's newest franchise home in 2022. The league around this time of year is finishing its postseason and crowning a champion, and this year, MLS decided to have an MLS Cup Playoff game played on Thanksgiving Day in a tight window between the end the start of the NFL's two marquee annual holiday matchups.

The Western Conference first round match between the Colorado Rapids and the Portland Timbers on Thanksgiving turned out to be a success for MLS in terms of viewership. FOX Sports, which is the primary English-language broadcast rights holder for MLS, benefitted greatly from having the Lions game this year. The network was able to seamlessly transition from its NFL post-game show into a quick pre-match show for MLS, allowing the table to be set before kick-off.

According to FOX, the early afternoon game in Portland, mid-afternoon on the east coast, drew a record 1.85 million viewers. It turned out to be the most-watched MLS match on English-language TV since 2004, and the most-watched MLS match ever on FOX.

That number outdrew the Copa America final that aired on FS1 over the summer, which saw international soccer star Lionel Messi claim his first major tournament title with Argentina. An audience of 1.836 million tuned in for the battle between Argentina and Brazil.

While a tad below 2 million viewers didn't make the contest the most-viewed sporting event on Thanksgiving this year, it appears MLS seems to have discovered something that could only get better in future years if the league wants to make futbol part of the football-dominated holiday media landscape.