World Cup final draws record 62.8M U.S. viewers

Sunday's FIFA World Cup final drew more than 62.8 million viewers in the U.S., making it the most-watched World Cup final and soccer telecast in American history.

Why it matters: The record audience underscores soccer's growing popularity in the U.S. and is likely to boost the value of future media rights.

By the numbers: The game, which saw Spain beat defending champion Argentina 1–0 in extra time, also was the most-watched soccer match in Spanish-language media history, Telemundo said.

Nearly 39 million U.S. viewers watched the game on Fox, which had exclusive English-language broadcast rights in the U.S. Those figures are up 132% from the 2022 final on Fox, the company said.

Another nearly 24 million U.S. viewers tuned into the broadcast on Telemundo, which had exclusive Spanish-language broadcast rights in the U.S. Those figures are up 166% from the 2022 final on Telemundo.

Data: Nielsen; Note: Includes English and Spanish broadcasts. Nielsen began including out-of-home and streaming viewing in its official national TV ratings in 2020; Chart: Kerry Flynn/Axios

Streaming played a big role in the tournament's reach. June was the biggest subscriber acquisition month for Fox's streaming service, Fox One, according to Antenna.

Fox One added an estimated 2.8 million new subscribers in June, more than 2.5 times its previous monthly record in January during the NFL playoffs, per Antenna.

Nearly all of Fox's new June subscribers — 93% — were first-time customers rather than returning users.

The intrigue: Peacock, which streams Telemundo, also saw strong subscriber growth, recording an estimated 3.75 million U.S. sign-ups in June, per Antenna.

Streaming accounted for nearly half of Telemundo's World Cup audience, up from 30% in 2022, per Telemundo.

Telemundo's coverage resonated beyond Spanish speakers, as some preferred the energetic commentary, lack of commercials during the hydration breaks and cheaper cost of Peacock compared to Fox One.

Between the lines: America hosting the tournament, a competitive U.S. men's national team and broader streaming distribution helped push viewership to new heights in the U.S.

The U.S. team's matches set audience records. Fox said the U.S. opening match against Paraguay on June 12 became the most-watched FIFA Men's World Cup telecast in English-language U.S. history, averaging 18 million viewers.

The U.S. men's victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1 set the record as the biggest English-language TV audience for any soccer match in America with 26.4 million viewers on Fox.

The U.S. team's loss to Belgium on July 6 later bested the record with 37.2 million viewers on Fox, per Nielsen, along with 12.9 million viewers on Telemundo, for more than 50 million combined.

The July 5 match between Mexico and England came close to that record with 46.7 million viewers on Fox and Telemundo.

The big picture: The FIFA World Cup has historically attracted the largest global audience of any recurring television event worldwide.

FIFA has not yet released worldwide figures. The 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France held the previous final game viewership record at 1.42 billion worldwide, per FIFA.

Live sports remain one of the few programming categories capable of attracting massive live audiences, driving both advertising revenue and streaming subscriptions.

FIFA also experimented with bringing more American-style entertainment to the event, including its first halftime show for a World Cup final, to help the tournament appeal beyond traditional soccer fans.

What to watch: FIFA is expected to cash in on the tournament's success by opening up the media rights bidding process for the 2030 World Cup.

Fox and Telemundo's current agreements ran through the 2026 tournament, after FIFA extended the deals without a competitive bidding process for the 2022 tournament.

FIFA has reportedly alerted media companies that English- and Spanish-language U.S. rights are likely to be sold together as a package for 2030, per CNBC, with Netflix, Disney and YouTube all interested in bidding. ...