The U.S. national women’s soccer team achieved a spectacular World Cup repeat yesterday, beating the Netherlands in a tense final in Lyon, France. If the early figures are anything to go by, the game also provided a strong finish for Fox in the ratings. Sunday’s final posted a 10.0 overnight metered market rating. For comparison, the semifinal scored a 5.5 in the same demographic and went on to a total of just over 7 million viewers
Fox Sports’ ad-sales team won’t be showered with confetti today like the U.S. women’s soccer team, which is getting a ticker-tape parade in New York following its championship. But the company is popping the bubbly all the same, thanks to its own World Cup coup. Fox netted roughly $40 million from Women’s World Cup ad sales, according to an industry source, a figure that more than doubled the company’s initial revenue estimates for the tournament and is five times more than the $8 million ESPN raked in for its coverage of the 2011 Women’s World Cup.
The U.S. championship 5-2 victory over Japan in the FIFA Women’s World Cup broke a major record: the most-watched soccer match in U.S. history. The match, which aired on Fox, pulled in a massive 25.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
Ratings continue to rise for the FIFA Women’s Cup, with Tuesday’s semifinal between USA and Germany on Fox drawing 8.4 million viewers — the third largest audience ever for an English-language telecast of women’s soccer in the States. According to Nielsen, the only bigger crowds for women’s soccer have been the USA-China Women’s World Cup Final in 1999 on ABC (17.97 million) and the USA-Japan matchup in the 2011 World Cup Final on ESPN (13.46 million).
