Fox TV executives knew their telecast of Sunday’s 2026 FIFA World Cup Final would be big.
They completely overlooked something even more popular than any NFL game besides the Super Bowl—a consistently huge ratings success.
Honestly, I was completely blown away by the numbers! Apparently, Fox Sports and Telemundo together pulled in nearly 65 million viewers for the final game. As someone who follows these things, that’s just incredible – far exceeded even the most optimistic expectations, according to Mike Mulvihill, who heads strategy and analytics at Fox Sports.
The Spain versus Argentina World Cup final, which Spain won 1-0, was watched by more people than any other sporting event – except for the Super Bowl and the 1994 Winter Olympics ladies’ singles figure skating competition featuring Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding.
The final match drew a massive audience, with 38.9 million people watching on Fox – the largest ever for a soccer broadcast. On Telemundo, the Spanish-language broadcast reached 23.9 million viewers, setting a new record for that platform.
The recent World Cup concluded with incredibly high viewership numbers. In the U.S., a total of 128.4 million people tuned in to watch games on Fox, FS1, and Tubi. An average of 7.7 million viewers watched each of the 104 matches – that’s a record and a significant jump of 116% compared to the 2022 World Cup.
As a huge soccer fan, I was thrilled to see how many people tuned in to watch the recent tournament on Telemundo and Peacock! Combined, those platforms averaged an incredible 6.3 million viewers across all 104 games – that’s a massive 143% increase compared to the last tournament in 2022. It’s fantastic to see Spanish-language coverage reaching such a wide audience.
As a big sports fan who also keeps an eye on the business side of things, I was really interested to see the numbers come out for the tournament. Apparently, advertising revenue alone hit over $1.2 billion! That’s according to Guideline, a company that closely tracks how much money is being spent on media buys.
Holding the tournament in the U.S. and scheduling games for both daytime and prime time viewing was beneficial. According to Mulvihill, the timing was also ideal, falling between the end of the NBA Finals and the start of the baseball and football seasons.
Despite relatively mild competition for viewers’ attention, the World Cup proved it could attract people who don’t normally watch soccer. Fox reported that 53% of those watching its coverage hadn’t watched any soccer in the last year. Their research also showed most U.S. sports fans only knew two soccer stars – Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi – along with their countries of origin.
So, what made so many people tune in? Mulvihill believes it was social media – which often gets heated during major sports events. While there was a lot of negativity before the World Cup started, that all changed as soon as the games began.
Mulvihill observed that there was considerable online criticism of the tournament beforehand, particularly regarding ticket prices and potential difficulties for international travelers visiting the U.S. However, once the games began, the conversation shifted dramatically towards overwhelmingly positive feedback.
Hollywood Inc.
Most of the cuts announced Tuesday are tied to ESPN’s acquisition of the NFL Network.
Patrick Rishe, who leads the sports business program at Washington University in St. Louis, explained that social media’s worldwide reach allowed U.S. fans to connect with international sports stars. This created a sense that everyone else was watching, likely encouraging more people to tune in as well.
Rishe explained that soccer fosters a sense of community. Even people supporting different teams can share in the excitement, tension, and drama of the game together. He believes it’s enjoyable simply to experience that atmosphere, even without having a favorite team.
Nielsen ratings revealed that many people enjoy watching TV with others. Almost a third (27%) of viewers watched outside their homes, and this number jumped to 35% for the season finale on Sunday.
Many people also hosted watch parties or got together at home. On average, 1.96 people per household watched the World Cup, compared to 1.69 people per household for regular season NFL games last year.
Now that the World Cup is over, the big question is whether it will boost soccer’s popularity in the United States. Major League Soccer has already seen a jump in ticket sales and recently launched an ad campaign – with the slogan “Thanks World, We’ll Take It From Here” – suggesting they’re ready to capitalize on any increased interest. Most MLS games are available on Apple TV.
Versant now has the rights to broadcast 300 games from Germany’s Bundesliga soccer league. At least 30 of those matches will air on Versant’s USA Network, while the remaining games will be available for free streaming on their Fandango platform. Previously, these games were shown on ESPN+, which required a paid subscription.
Telemundo will now broadcast UEFA’s men’s club soccer games in Spanish, including the prestigious Champions League.
Fox spent $485 million to broadcast the 2026 World Cup, and Telemundo paid $600 million for the rights to air the games in Spanish.
However, the biggest draw is the broadcasting rights for the 2030 World Cup. Both traditional TV networks and streaming services are predicted to compete fiercely for them, despite the games being played at times that won’t be ideal for American viewers (the tournament will be hosted by Morocco, Portugal, and Spain).
ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro recently stated the network is definitely interested in covering the ongoing success of a major sports phenomenon, calling it ‘a juggernaut’ and saying its popularity wasn’t unexpected. He made these comments while speaking at the CNBC Sport x Boardroom Game Plan Summit in New York.
2026-07-23 01:01