NBC paid $950 million in August to continue to air the Premier League between the 16-17 and 21-22 season.

NBC Sports Chairman Mark Lazarus predicted the company wouldn’t make money on the transaction, positioning it more as a loss-leader.

But Lazarus is beginning to hedge those comments.

“We won’t make money at the beginning,” said Lazarus.

Matches are averaging 563,000 viewers each across all channels, a 19% increase over last year. 

By comparison, Major League Soccer games garnered an average audience this season of about 200,000 on FoxSports1 and about 250,000 on ESPN’s channels. 

Audience size has risen 150%, on average, compared with three years ago when the games were on Fox and ESPN.

Sports media experts say they are more bullish about the future of the Premier League in the U.S. than they are about any other league, with the exception of the long-dominant NFL.