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On average, more than 25.4 million viewers tuned in to see the USWNT defeat Japan on Fox, per the New York Times. But with the addition of Spanish channels, the average viewership reached 26.7 million. The total viewership for all or part of the match exceeded 40 million people. This number exceeds last year’s viewership of the Germany versus Argentina men’s World Cup final game that had 26.5 million viewers in the United States watching.
This World Cup was the perfect storm for U.S. viewership. A strong U.S. side, a primetime broadcasting time and rematch with another World Cup Championship on the line enticed viewers across the country.
With the World Cup in Canada this year, Fox Sports 1 had the luxury of broadcasting games during prime-time slots, energizing and focusing a growing soccer fan base Stateside. While it’s true, there might not have been much else to watch sports wise, but when number exceeded those for traditional sports finals something else must be going on. And the numbers did.
The viewership for the Women’s World Cup final trumped the viewership for the recent NBA finals and for last year’s World Series. The average viewership of the World Series game seven was 23.5 million, which saw the Giants beat out Kansas city. According to Forbes.com the 2014 World Series was the least-watched seven-game series in history.
In the NBA finals the series averaged 19.94 millions viewers on ABC, making it the highest rated series since 1998, according to ESPN.
To be fair, the World Cup only happens every four years and the final is played in a single game, not in a best-of-seven series. What the Women accomplished is nothing less than astonishing.
Viewers tuned in by the droves, and the record viewership wasn’t something the networks anticipated.
Whether or not this is a sign of a growing U.S. soccer craze, it shows major leaps not just for women’s soccer, but also for a growing notion of U.S. as legitimate soccer fan base. If foreign players recognize this it could draw top talent to the U.S. While it’s true that more viewers tuned in for the game than any U.S. men’s game, most viewers were first-time World Cup watchers.
A great victory and a record viewership are things U.S. soccer fans can feel excited about and an achievement the men’s team may never have.
Soccer has come a long way in the states and still has the potential to surprise fans even more.
