World Cup’s USA-Iran Match Draws 12 Million Viewers

Fox Sports drew 12 million TV viewers for Tuesday’s USA-Iran World Cup group stage match.

Team USA’s 1-0 victory over Iran in Qatar averaged 12 million viewers, below USA’s Black Friday match against England, which drew 15.4 million.

But Tuesday’s match was an impressive number for a match that started at 2 p.m. ET when many soccer fans were still at work or school. 

• Viewership peaked at 15.6 million viewers from 3:45 to 4 p.m. ET as the U.S. men’s national team tried to hang on and advance to the knockout stage.
• Team USA’s three group stage matches against Iran, England, and Wales averaged 11.7 million viewers. That’s the highest figure for the men’s team at that stage. It also “easily beats” the average for every non-NFL TV show this fall, tweeted Fox executive Mike Mulvihill.
• The top five TV markets were Washington D.C., Providence, Boston, Baltimore, and Kansas City.
• USA vs. Iran was the most-streamed FIFA World Cup match in Fox Sports history, with an average minute audience of 959,004 viewers.

Media

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Fox, Telemundo, and Peacock will have another opportunity to score high ratings when Team USA plays the Netherlands on Saturday at 10 a.m. ET.