Soccer fans in the United States tuned in to Sunday’s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina in a major way.
Per ESPN, “Fox said Tuesday that the Spain-Argentina final drew 38.937 million viewers—including a peak of 51.685 million—which easily set the record as the most-watched English-language soccer telecast in U.S. history, according to Nielsen Media Research. Telemundo’s preliminary numbers for its Spanish-language broadcast said the game had a total audience of 22.6 million, putting the total number of viewers in the U.S. at more than 60 million.”
Those are NFL numbers when it comes to U.S. sporting broadcasts:
It’s another sign that soccer continues to grow as a sport in the United States. Sunday’s final offered obvious appeal—Lionel Messi remains the biggest name in the sport and was attempting to win a second straight World Cup with Argentina, while Spain boasted a star-studded roster than completely dominated the entire tournament, allowing only one goal.
The game itself lacked at times, especially for more casual neutrals, as it was a scoreless draw through regulation despite Spain’s domination of the proceedings. But ultimately there was ample drama, from Enzo Fernández’s sending off late in the second half to Ferran Torres’ game-winning goal and Argentina’s desperate attempts to find an equalizer in the final moments.
And fans in the United States were clearly dialed in for all of it.