U.S. Semifinal Against England Delivers More Than 7 Million Viewers on FOX
USA’s Women’s Soccer Team is setting new records on and off the FIFA Women’s World Cup fields.
The Stats:
- Mid-day match delivered 7,386,000 viewers across FOX and streaming sources
- On FOX, 2-1 U.S. win over England scored 7,025,000 viewers, the most-watched soccer match on English-language U.S. TV since 2018 FIFA World Cup™ Final
Telecast peaked at more than 9 million viewers
Average minute audience of 361,000 makes it most-streamed FIFA Women’s World Cup™ match ever- Social content scored 12.4 million total views, setting new event highs on YouTube and Twitter
What Does This Mean?
These stats are spectacular and prove the success and high level of engagement Americans have with women’s soccer.
Reality Check :
There has been a lot of speculation on the overall success of women’s soccer as a viable financial sport capable of attracting eyeballs and sponsors. Today’s announcement from Fox on their 7 million viewers shines a bright light on the women’s game — and its popularity.
According to CNBC, US women’s soccer games now generate more revenue than men’s—but the players still earn less.
That’s according to audited financial statements from the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF).
“In the three years after the U.S. women’s soccer team won the 2015 World Cup, U.S. women’s games generated more total revenue than U.S. men’s games, according to audited financial reports from the U.S. Soccer Federation,” according to The Wall Street Journal on June 17, 2019.
“The ability of the women’s team to generate gate revenues that equals or exceeds the men’s team is an important battleground in the U.S. women’s March 8 gender-discrimination lawsuit against the federation.”
As you may remember, all 28 players of U.S. Soccer’s Women’s National Team player pool sued U.S. Soccer — the goal is to gain equal pay.
Just a few days ago, U.S. Soccer Federation and the players suing for gender discrimination have agreed to begin a mediation process which will start as soon as the FIFA Women’s World Cup is over.
According to the financial reports,
- In 2016, women’s games generated $1.9 million more in revenue than men’s games
- From 2016 to 2018, women’s games generated approximately $50.8 million in revenue
- The men during the same time frame generated just a little less, coming in at $49.9 million
The quest to stop gender discrimination has never been about who is better at winning World Cups but focused on whether or not players are treated differently because of gender. Under the guise that women’s soccer was less popular and generated lower revenues, there was the pretense that paying women professionals was acceptable.
Clearly it is not.
