Last 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.
The record audience underscores soccer’s growing popularity in the U.S. and is likely to boost the value of future media rights.
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., up 166% from the 2022 final on Telemundo.
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.
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.
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 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. FIFA is expected to cash in on the tournament’s success by opening up the media rights bidding process for the 2030 World Cup.