The buzzsaw that is the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team has continued all the way through to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Final. Fox Sports officials in Vancouver and Los Angeles must be doing backflips, handstands and popping a lot of champagne corks. USA vs. Japan which ended in a convincing 5-2 win for the U.S. women, resulted in an amazing 15.2/27 overnight rating and share for Fox. That is a new record for a soccer game viewed in the U.S. and beats the previous high, 13.3 for the 1999 Women’s World Cup Final between the U.S. and Communist China.
Some other interesting numbers. Yesterday’s game was 77% higher than the 2011 Final between U.S. and Japan which aired on ESPN. Kansas City and St. Louis gave Missouri the top two spots in the top rated local markets for the match.
And the rating peaked at 18.3/31 in the final quarter-hour from 8:45-9 p.m. ET. We should get final numbers later today and they should show that this game will have smashed the soccer viewership record of 17.3 million for the 1999 Women’s World Cup. We could see the viewership approach or perhaps surpass 20 million and that would be NFL-like numbers.
Here’s the official press release:
USA’s WOMEN’S WORLD CUP CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH SETS METERED MARKET HOUSEHOLD RATINGS RECORDMM Rating Peaks at 18.3
Fast National Audience Figure Due this AfternoonVancouver, B.C. – The USA’s emphatic 5-2 victory over Japan in the FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2015™ final, America’s first Women’s World Cup championship since 1999, posted a prodigious 15.2/27 metered market household rating/share (7:00-9:00 PM ET), according to Nielsen. It is the highest metered market rating ever for a soccer game in the U.S. on a single network, surpassing the previous mark set for the Women’s World Cup final between the USA and China in 1999 on ABC (13.3 mm rating). Fast national figures are expected later today.
Additional metered market highlights for Japan-USA:
- Match rating +77% over the 8.6 recorded by ESPN for the USA vs. Japan Women’s World Cup final in 2011
- The match’s metered market audience peaked at 18.3/31 from 8:45-9:00 PM ET which included the USA’s winning celebration
- The top 5 local markets for the match: Kansas City (20.6/35), St. Louis (20.5/33), San Diego (19.5/41), Denver (19.4/36) and Austin (19.1/37)
Back later with more on the Women’s World Cup Final and a review of Fox’s coverage.
