World Cup reaches one-third of all US TV viewers

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2010 FIFA World Cup soccer telecasts aired on all English (ESPN/ABC) and Spanish (Univision/TeleFutura) language networks have reached an estimated 34% of all US TV viewers, according to figures released by The Nielsen Company.


A total of 99.2 million American viewers have watched at least six minutes of World Cup action through Tuesday (6/29). The figure already surpasses the 91.4 million viewers who watched at least some of the games throughout the entire 2006 World Cup.

“The audience reach measurement is a good indicator of how many viewers are at least curious enough to see what all the buzz is about. Even with the World Cup’s most crucial games still to come, a reach of 99.2 million viewers suggests that there’s a big American appetite for world class soccer,” said Stephen Master, VP of Sports at Nielsen.

Viewers in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale market are watching the World Cup more than any other market in the country. Through Tuesday, Miami has the highest ratings for both English language (3.6 HH rating) and Spanish language (5.2 HH rating) World Cup telecasts.
New York City has the second highest ratings for English language telecasts (3.3 HH rating), followed by Washington, DC (3.2 HH rating). San Diego, which was the top-rated English language market in 2006, ranks fourth so far this year with a 3.1 average household rating.

2010 World Cup Local Market Rankings – English Language
Rank Market Rating Share Households (000)
1 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale 3.6 9 55
2 New York 3.3 10 245
3 Washington, DC (Hagerstown) 3.2 10 75
4 San Diego 3.1 10 33
5 San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose 3.0 13 76
6 Norfolk-Portsmth-Newport News 2.9 7 20
7 West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce 2.7 7 21
8 Las Vegas 2.7 7 19
9 Boston (Manchester) 2.6 10 63
10 Baltimore 2.4 7 27

Source: The Nielsen Company
Includes broadcasts airing on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 through 6/29/10

After Miami, Los Angeles has the highest average rating for Spanish language broadcasts (4.1 HH rating). Houston (3.5), Las Vegas (2.6), and Dallas-Ft. Worth (2.4) round out the top five.

2010 World Cup Local Market Rankings – Spanish Language
Rank Market Rating Share Households (000)
1 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale 5.2 14 80
2 Los Angeles 4.1 14 231
3 Houston 3.5 10 74
4 Las Vegas 2.6 7 19
5 Dallas-Ft. Worth 2.4 7 61
6 San Antonio 2.1 5 17
7 New York 2.0 6 152
8 San Francisco-Oak-San Jose 1.9 8 48
9 Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto 1.8 6 25
10 Austin 1.8 5 12
Source: The Nielsen Company
Includes broadcasts airing on Univision and Telefutura through 6/29/10

Source: The Nielsen Company