MLS' national TV broadcasts attracted a significant amount of viewers on opening weekend. The league's official website published the ratings from UniMas, Fox Sports 1 and ESPN2. They're impressive numbers and, in some cases, broke records. However, it's too early to get carried away.

LA Galaxy versus Chicago Fire drew an average of 341,000 viewers. It's impressive considering the match kicked off just after 10 p.m. ET on a Friday.

ESPN2's broadcast of Orlando City SC against New York City FC attracted 539,000 viewers. This number surpassed any game on the network from last season by 100,000.

Fox Sports 1's numbers weren't as impressive, but were still impressive. Around 268,000 watched Sporting Kansas City face the New York Red Bulls and 289,000 viewed the Seattle Sounders versus the New England Revolution on Sunday.

Both games marked a huge improvement on NBCSN’s 2014 average of 142,000, per Paul Kennedy of SoccerAmerica. ESPN and ESPN2 generated a combined viewership of 240,000 last season.

Comparing last year to last weekend shows there's interest in the league across the United States. However, it was the first round of matches. Those are guaranteed to draw even the average MLS fan after a winter hiatus.

The 2014 season opener was watched by 330,000 people on NBCSN, according to SoccerAmerica. However, the numbers dipped significantly over the next three games on the network.

There were even a few matches that recorded a low amount of viewers in 2014 in Canada. Toronto FC barely cracked 100,000 for most of its matches after the team's first game in Seattle, per Chris Zelkovich of Yahoo Sports Canada.

Part of the issue is availability of channels on both sides of the border. NBCSN is not included in most cable packages, so it's harder for fans to watch games when it's unavailable.

Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet 360, who occasionally broadcasted TFC, are also specialty channels in Canada. Toronto and the Vancouver Whitecaps were also shown on TSN2, which is unavailable on most standard Canadian TV packages as well.

Fox Sports 1, the new national broadcaster for MLS, can be viewed on most cable or satellite providers. Hence the numbers were greater than NBCSN's last season.

TSN's main network broadcasted Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps last weekend in Canada. It attracted a record-setting audience.

Airing games on networks everyone has access to can help attract casual viewers. However, most supporters of, say, the San Jose Earthquakes, probably wouldn't tune in to a D.C. United versus Orlando City match. Many fans only keep tabs on their own club and not the league as a whole.

This may change with time, and once more MLS games are aired on national networks compared to local ones, the viewership may continue to go up.

The viewership numbers from opening weekend may lead to better ratings in the future. However, fans should err on the side of caution, because with college basketball, MLB, plus the NHL and NBA playoffs, there will be plenty of competition for MLS.

Peter Galindo covers MLS and U.S. soccer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @GalindoPW.

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