FIFA 2018 World Cup: Viewership is off the Charts
American TV audiences love penalty kicks and Croatia’s Win Over Denmark is FOX’s Most-Watched Match of the Tournament
Croatia vs. Denmark and Spain vs. Russia Draw More Than 5 Million Viewers Each on FOX
A pair of Knockout Stage matches that needed penalty kicks to determine a winner led FOX Sports to a huge day of 2018 FIFA World Cup viewership on Sunday.
Penalty Kicks Drive FOX to Huge World Cup Audiences
Capping an exciting day of action on the pitch, Croatia’s nail-biting win over Denmark drew 5,912,000 viewers on FOX, the network’s most-watched match of the 2018 World Cup, and the most-watched English-language men’s soccer match in the U.S. since the 2014 World Cup Final.
Viewership for Croatia vs. Denmark is up +0.3% over the corresponding 2014 World Cup match (vs. 5,896,000 for Costa Rica-Greece) and up +19% over the equivalent match from 2010 (vs. 4,956,000 for Argentina-Mexico).
The match is also up a massive +115% compared to the 2006 equivalent (vs. 2,754,000 for Portugal-Netherlands). Croatia vs. Denmark attracted an average minute audience of 250,000 and 846,000 unique streamers, delivering a combined 6,162,000 viewers on the FOX broadcast network and streaming sources. On FOX, the matched peaked at 7,587,000 viewers from 4:30-4:45 PM ET.
Earlier in the day, Russia’s win over Spain, the biggest upset ever in a World Cup knockout phase, drew 5,116,000 viewers on FOX, the network’s fourth most-watched match of the tournament, despite airing in the early window.
Spain vs. Russia is up +36% over the comparable match from the 2010 World Cup, which aired in a similar time zone (vs. 3,756,000 for Germany-England) and up +29% over the comparable match from 2006 (vs. 3,973,000 for England-Ecuador).
With an average minute audience of 260,000 and 910,000 unique streamers, the match drew a combined 5,376,000 viewers on the FOX broadcast network and streaming sources, peaking at 5,513,000 viewers on FOX from 12:30-12:45 PM ET.
Buoyed by extra time and penalty kicks in both matches, FOX Sports had its best day of the tournament in live streaming minutes per match with 50.4 million live minutes streamed in each game.
Even when ranked among days with four matches, yesterday’s streaming performance ranked fourth overall among the 17 matchdays.
Viewership of the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ on FOX and FS1 stretches across the country with top 10 markets to-date of Washington D.C., Miami, San Francisco, Austin, Providence, New York, San Diego, Los Angeles, West Palm Beach and Tulsa.
While who lifts the championship trophy this year remains a mystery, the fact that soccer is more beloved than ever is clear.
This World Cup is helping grow the sport.
