US-Netherlands Sets Women’s World Cup Group Stage Ratings Record

USA-Netherlands resulted in a 1-1 draw on the pitch, but it was a win for FOX as it was the most-watched group stage Women’s World Cup match ever for an English-language network.

FOX scored a record 6.429 million viewers for Wednesday’s match in New Zealand, according to Sports TV Ratings. It makes back-to-back strong showings for FOX in its first two Women’s World Cup broadcasts, as the USWNT’s first game against Vietnam averaged 5,261,000 viewers on FOX, ranking as the network’s third-most watched group stage telecast since FOX started covering the WWC in 2015.

Telemundo’s Spanish-language broadcast of Wednesday’s match drew 1.165 million viewers, totaling nearly 8 million U.S. viewers. 

Wednesday’s match blew past the previous Women’s World Cup group stage record on FOX, the USWNT’s 2019 match against Chile, which averaged 5.3 million viewers. FOX’s 6.4 million Wednesday figure ranks as the seventh most-watched Women’s World Cup match. 

The 2015 U.S.-Japan Final on FOX drew 25.4 million viewers is the most-watched Women’s World Cup match ever, and it remains the most-watched broadcast featuring a U.S. soccer team. It ranked as the most-watched soccer game in U.S. history until last year’s men’s World Cup Final between Argentina and France recorded 26.7 million viewers, though that figure includes streaming and Spanish-language viewers.