Twenty days into the World Cup and the figures are in. The main takeaway? A star-spangled soccer popularity surge is engulfing this 50-state land and, so long as the No 1 act is in town, it shows no signs of relenting.
FOX Sports, who spent $485m to acquire the American television rights for the biggest World Cup of all time, have made no secret of their lofty viewership statistics after the group phase. Even withstanding the contrived punditry from the much-maligned Alexi Lakas, the numbers across the board tell the story of a nation gripped by football in an unprecedented manner.
USA’s opening-game triumph against Paraguay, primetime on Friday night, raked in 19 million viewers, topped up to 26 million when including Spanish-language viewers on Telemundo and Peacock. For their other two group games, that total number did not drop below 23 million. For context, Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration last year drew in 24.6 million viewers across all 15 major US networks. And the New York Knicks’ NBA Finals series win, clinched the day after the US victory over Paraguay, drew in 20.6 million per game across ABC and ESPN.
Of course, Super Bowls are always the unassailable Everest for American TV viewership figures; 19 of the 20 most-watched programmes in US broadcast history are the NFL’s annual extravaganza, which regularly tops 120 million viewers. But this summer’s fever of footballing patriotism, intertwined with a natural boom from hosting the event, is only heading one way, so long as business is taken care of on the pitch. The reward for the United States – or USMNT [United States Men’s National Team] as they’re known in these parts – finishing top of Group D is a last-32 match-up against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Santa Clara.
The temporarily renamed 75,000-seater San Francisco Bay Stadium, home to the 49ers NFL franchise, will be a sea of red-and-white as day gives way to dusk on Wednesday evening, with a pocket of boisterous blue-clad Bosnian supporters in the lower tiers. Tickets are priced at $1,200 which makes it the third-most expensive event ever at the stadium, behind two Super Bowls.
FOX Sports, who spent $485m to acquire the American television rights for the biggest World Cup of all time, have made no secret of their lofty viewership statistics after the group phase. Even withstanding the contrived punditry from the much-maligned Alexi Lakas, the numbers across the board tell the story of a nation gripped by football in an unprecedented manner.
USA’s opening-game triumph against Paraguay, primetime on Friday night, raked in 19 million viewers, topped up to 26 million when including Spanish-language viewers on Telemundo and Peacock. For their other two group games, that total number did not drop below 23 million. For context, Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration last year drew in 24.6 million viewers across all 15 major US networks. And the New York Knicks’ NBA Finals series win, clinched the day after the US victory over Paraguay, drew in 20.6 million per game across ABC and ESPN.
Of course, Super Bowls are always the unassailable Everest for American TV viewership figures; 19 of the 20 most-watched programmes in US broadcast history are the NFL’s annual extravaganza, which regularly tops 120 million viewers. But this summer’s fever of footballing patriotism, intertwined with a natural boom from hosting the event, is only heading one way, so long as business is taken care of on the pitch. The reward for the United States – or USMNT [United States Men’s National Team] as they’re known in these parts – finishing top of Group D is a last-32 match-up against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Santa Clara.
The temporarily renamed 75,000-seater San Francisco Bay Stadium, home to the 49ers NFL franchise, will be a sea of red-and-white as day gives way to dusk on Wednesday evening, with a pocket of boisterous blue-clad Bosnian supporters in the lower tiers. Tickets are priced at $1,200 which makes it the third-most expensive event ever at the stadium, behind two Super Bowls.
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