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The 2010 FIFA World Cup knockout round match between the USA and Ghana averaged a 9.9 metered market household rating on ABC between 2:30 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. Eastern time. That was an increase of about 10% from the metered market ratings during the USA v. England match on Saturday, June 12.
That USA-England match averaged ~13 million viewers on ABC, and another 4 million viewers on Univision.
If the viewership of the USA-Ghana match also increased by 10% (a reasonable guess at this point), then the average viewership would end up in the neighborhood of 19 million average viewers. After guessing low on USA-England, I'd end up being about 15% high on my guess for USA-Ghana.
Well, you should listen to my thread at bigsoccer…lol..just kidding, i have been very close with my predictions for the World Cup soccer tv ratings. I expected atleast 15 million viewers for this game and a Final rating of atleast 8.0 or higher. I expect Univision to do atleast 4 million, so the combined audience will be 19 or so. The most watched Soccer match ever in the US market, passing the Women's World Cup Final on ABC.
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/forumdisplay.php…
Does soccer skew old? I've always found it to be a very boring sport. “Boring” for me usually translates to “old-skewing” in the Nielsen ratings, no joke.
Actually, major soccer matches skew young, check out the high 18-49 ratings on this site from Wednesday's US match. In my opinion, tons of men (and women) under 40 now pay attention to the World Cup nearly to the extent that they follow the Olympics.
Soccer audiences have also shown themselves to be educated and having disposable income – very desirable when the numbers are high. Disney/ABC/ESPN knows this and has pushed the World Cup as a major resource in the last 8 years.
I think the World Cup/Olympics comparison is a good one.
American's care a lot every four years, and then not at all in between.
It's time to cry, Argentina.
No…come on…aren't you and the rest of American watching MLS at 5pm tonight on ESPN2?
kidding aside, Brazil should be pretty huge.
“Not at all” is a stretch. ESPN has been happy with in-between WC ratings from events like the Confederations Cup and the European Championships. And now they're investing in English Premier League rights, along with FOX (who moved the European Champs League final to their main channel from niche cable). Then there's Univision and Telemundo…
Americans don't care at all about watching MLS on TV, but they watch other leagues. Let's not pretend this is luge, track or swimming we're talking about here.
actually track and swimming probably out rate MLS and EPL, and any other club soccer on American tv ever..
of course I am not including the MFL on spanish tv….that does well…yes these ratings are rising..well EPL, and UEFA are…not MLS….but they are pretty much online with regular season NHL games on versus which are poorly rated.
the world cup ratings blow club soccer out of the water.
Remember NHL ratings aren't just Versus ratings. The local cable ratings are non-trivial – and broadcast every game of the local teams. During hockey season that's many games a week.
So even if another sport can equal, say, Versus NHL ratings … that's not really an apples to apples comparison.
I think there is some small, but significant, organic growth of the soccer fanbase. MLS has a sustainable niche in the sports landscape if they live within their means. America is a big country. There's millions to be made in MLS as America's 5th most popular pro team sport. The World Cup is a nice every 4 year boost to that. MLS seems to be doing especially well in Canada and the Pacific Northwest where there is less competition from other sports.
That said the # of people in the US who care about soccer has probably shrunk more by Mexican immigrants returning to Mexico due to the recession than it has grown due to excitement about the World Cup.
I agree with you….but that will just get you called a hater…
Frivolousz, you seriously do wish there was more open debate and you seem to be willing to do anything to see that happen, including arguing with yourself!
Is World Cup 2010 drawing better ratings than World Cup 2006? Yes, it is. Your response to that has repeatedly been: “but that won't mean anything for MLS ratings between now and 2014!”
But nobody here disagrees with you so you should probably confine the response to the forums you troll where somebody is actually arguing with you. Thanks!
Robert, Frivlousz sounds like Sportsfan from bigsoccer.com…Same arguements, same logic in and out…
Facts: World CUP tv ratings are going higher, the two US game (combined ratings) have either matched or little higher than the NBA Finals which averaged 18 million (not including game 7), World Series 2009 (averaged 18 million), and higher than Stanley Cup Finals (averaged something like 6 million or so)…This shows Americans are starting to embrace the Beautiful game.
My Prediction for the World Cup Final (If we get Brazil v Argentina), or another compelling match-up, I expect the game to do about 9.0-10.0 in the overnight ratings, and the Final rating should be atleast 8-8.5, and about 15 million people watching on ABC. Univision should get about 5.5-6.0 million for it's coverage, so the combined audience should be around 20-22 million (much higher than 2006 which was 17 million).
Agree with the first paragraph but not the second. I don't think there's yet any concrete evidence of Mexicans going back to Mexico in great numbers. If anything, Mexican immigrants have moved East to places like NC and The Bronx.
But, yeah, MLS has a good core of supporters who support their individual teams. It is that support group that is the base for soccer in the country. That and the college/rec/semi-pro programs, where most of the 1990 team came from. Those alone represent a huge victory because these dent the old line of “nobody cares” just enough to register in the big media, which now deem the World Cup as important enough to air.
Fair points. The bulk of the growth in the US hispanic population in the next few decades will be organic (ie babies) anyway so MLS still has a large, growing, and tempting demographic to fight for going forward, whether immigration picks back up or not. Of course, the Mexican pro league is not giving up on 2nd and 3rd generation Mex-Americans just because they were born in LA or Dallas. That will be an interesting fight to watch in the coming years. In the short term MLS benefits financially (thru SUM) by hosting Mexican league matches and the Mexican national team in the US which draws huge fan interest. In the long term both leagues are going after the same fanbase. And right now the Mexican league is the richer league.
MLS has done a good job so far. And the spread of the soccer specific stadiums (the 9th opened today in Philly) is a good physical symbol of the permanence of soccer in the American sports landscape.
once the world cup is used to say soccer is getting more popular in this country then everything is fair game….unless someone would want to be considered simple minded enough to make those statements completely based on World Cup tv ratings…..if your going to tell me that these threads are solely used to talk about world cup ratings fine…..why don't you read stingbees post where he just compared the US domestic leagues to the world cup and call me a troll again…at least i am sticking to soccer…that wouldn't fit your agenda if your calling me a troll..
Again, nobody here saying “you just wait, MLS is going to be HUGE next summer! World Cup will set MLS ratings on fire, you just wait” You keep posting the same stuff over and over again as if there are people here saying that. There aren't!
The “soccer demographic” is so diverse that I can't guess right if/when soccer would grow. ESPN may have done an excellent job at creating awareness of the World Cup. These were what they were faced with:
- First, do not turn off the true, serious soccer fan. Here, the production values of FIFA plus the money ESPN put into the coverage have helped. I've read a few complaints about the coverage. No Max Bretos, who is hated within this core group, for some reason.
- Second, present the games in a way that is inviting for casual viewers and general sports fans. This is the other big test. It's too early to make a conclusion but I think a few more have been won over.
- Use the new media as platforms to beam the content for people who can't spend time in front of the TV. Hello?! We're basically there now.
Now I'm not suggesting that “we've turned the corner” but footy fans now have a comfortable place in the sporting world. Sort of like that guy sitting on that bar stool almost to the back of the establishment but there are a lot of attractive women sitting down to his left. That's the position soccer's in, IMO. Before, he wouldn't get past the bouncer. That was the 1986 or even the 1990 position. So using that analogy, it's come a long, long way.
TBH, it's not the Latinos who are forming the core of the MLS supporters. They are what I would call the new urbanites. These may or may have traveled outside the country to get their futbol. They may or may not have children who are participating in youth sports programs. They may have already been exposed to footy coverage from either FSC, Univision, Telemundo, Galavision, GolTV, ESPN2, the college programs, premium channels like Setanta Sports or exposed to the game when hanging out with buddies at the sports bar. They may have grown up in the suburbs in the last 20 years and moved into the cities for jobs. They may be between 15 and 50 years old.
Check out Youtube and type in “(name of MLS team) supporters” and you may have a better idea of who shows up to those games.
I guess the thing I keep coming back to is that it doesn't matter whether World Cup ratings translate to increased MLS ratings. The World Cup package includes the MLS so as long as WC ratings are good then the MLS will be on TV.
Frivolousz (goes by the name of Sportsfan) you have been criticized on bigsoccer.com for being clueless and spraying the threads with the same BS about MLS…we are not talking about MLS.
Many times, he has lost me in his logic and talking points.