You can stop waiting for soccer to arrive in America; it’s already here. The evidence was first laid out in an op-ed for the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition published on the eve of the 2015 Women’s World Cup Tournament. Now, a month later, the TV ratings numbers further validate the thesis.
The USA’s emphatic 5-2 victory over Japan in the Women’s World Cup 2015™ final is the most- watched soccer match in U.S. history, according to Nielsen. The match posted a prodigious 12.9 household rating/share with 25.4 million viewers, and peaked at 30.9 million between 8:30-8:45 PM ET.
That’s not just the most watched women’s soccer match in U.S. history; it’s the most watched soccer match in U.S. history. Averaging 25 million viewers and peaking at 31 mil isn’t just NFL level numbers; it’s Wildcard weekend or Divisional round NFL postseason numbers.
This follows up a tournament in which many viewership records were broken.
The USWNT’s 2-1 win over Germany on Tuesday night attracted 8.4 million viewers which broke the record for a non-World Cup final women’s soccer match. That mark had just been set on June 26 when the USWNT defeated China 1-0 in the quarterfinal. That match drew 5.7 million viewers, so Tuesday night’s increase was a whopping 47%.
Having the World Cup in Canada, where the time zones are the same, was also a huge boon to ratings. Also, it was the highest scoring Title match in Women’s World Cup history, so that obviously helped ramp up viewership.
Some more numbers and statistics via FOX Sports Media Relations:
The 2015 USA-Japan final is the most-watched soccer match in U.S. history, obliterating the previous mark of 18,220,000 set by USA-Portugal during last year’s World Cup group stage match (6/22/15) by +39%.
– USA-Japan also shatters prior mark for a women’s soccer match, the 1999 Women’s World Cup Final (17,975,000) by +41%.
– The match beat the audience for the 2011 Women’s World Cup Final, which also featured USA vs. Japan, by +89% (13.5 million).
– Last night’s match average audience exceeded every game of the NBA Finals, the 2014-15 broadcast season average of every show in primetime, including Sunday Night Football, and the primetime average of the Sochi Olympic Winter Games
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous sports talk radio stations all across the country.
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