4.5 million people watched USA-Sweden Women’s World Cup game on FOX
The USA-Sweden Women’s World Cup game attracted a viewing audience of 4.5 million people, who watched the 0-0 draw on Friday night live on the free-to-air FOX network across the United States. The 4.5 million viewing figure means that the … Continue reading →

The USA-Sweden Women’s World Cup game attracted a viewing audience of 4.5 million people, who watched the 0-0 draw on Friday night live on the free-to-air FOX network across the United States.

The 4.5 million viewing figure means that the game was the most-watched Women’s World Cup Group Stage ever on US television. Plus, it set a record for the most-watched game ever on the FOX network.

Meanwhile, USA-Sweden is the fourth most-watched women’s soccer match of all time, trailing only the following Women’s World Cup matches: USA-China in 1999 (17,975,000); Japan-USA in 2011 (13,458,000); and Brazil-USA in 1999 (4,924,000).

The audience for USA-Sweden (4.5 million) is +137% better than the USA’s second FIFA Women’s World Cup Group Stage match on ESPN in 2011 (1.9 million viewers). Of course, ESPN has fewer subscribers than FOX (approximately 100 million compared to the 116 million homes in the United States that have access to the FOX broadcasting network).

Through the first five match days for which national audience figures are available, plus the USA-Sweden match, the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 is averaging 1.061 million viewers, +56% better than 2011’s comparable average of 678,000 on ESPN and ESPN 2.

Top 10 Markets for USA-Sweden:

Richmond (5.6);
Las Vegas (5.1);
Milwaukee (5.0);
Columbus (4.5);
St. Louis (4.3);
Washington, D.C.(4.2);
Norfolk (4.2);
New Orleans (4.2);
Providence (4.2); and
Dayton (4.2).

Top Markets for both USA matches combined:

Washington D.C. (4.3);
Richmond (4.0);
St. Louis (4.0);
Baltimore (3.9);
Hartford (3.8);
Milwaukee (3.8);
Providence (3.5);
Kansas City (3.4);
Dayton (3.3);
Las Vegas (3.2);
Los Angeles (3.2);
Norfolk (3.2); and
Philadelphia (3.2).