Fox and Telemundo See Record U.S. Audiences During World Cup Round of 16

Despite the elimination of the United States and Mexican national teams, domestic broadcasters are concluding the World Cup round of 16 with historic viewership numbers. Fox Corporation and Telemundo have reported unprecedented engagement levels, setting the stage for a financially successful tournament conclusion.

The Round of 16 clash between the U.S. and Belgium emerged as a ratings juggernaut. Fox’s English-language broadcast averaged 33.1 million viewers, marking the most-watched soccer telecast in U.S. history, according to Nielsen data. The audience figure also stands as the highest for a non-NFL program on any U.S. network since Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. Simultaneously, Telemundo’s Spanish-language coverage contributed 12.9 million viewers, pushing the combined average audience to 46 million.

These figures illustrate the tournament’s capacity to rival traditional American sports juggernauts. The combined U.S.-Belgium audience neared the 47.4 million average for the NFL’s conference championship games earlier this year. Similarly, the Mexico-England match on July 5 averaged a combined 44.9 million viewers across both networks, with Telemundo alone drawing 23.2 million viewers—a network record for soccer.

Comparisons to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar highlight the impact of time zones and host advantage. Fox averaged 14.5 million viewers for the Round of 16, a 216% increase from the comparable stage in 2022, setting an English-language record for the men’s tournament. Telemundo averaged 11.1 million viewers, up 265% from the 2022 average.

Overall consumption has surged across platforms. Fox, FS1, and Tubi have generated 98.4 billion minutes of consumption—more than quadruple the comparable figure from 2022. Telemundo reported 61 billion minutes of consumption across its platforms, surpassing the combined totals of the 2018 and 2022 tournaments by 41%.

Fox Sports executive Mike Mulvihill attributed the success to favorable scheduling, including “better time zones” and more matches on broadcast television. With seven matches remaining in the tournament, the strong early-round performance positions both broadcasters to meet budget targets. Industry analysts suggest these results will be reflected in upcoming quarterly earnings for the parent companies and will likely influence the upcoming sale of U.S. media rights for the 2030 and 2034 tournaments.

Market Data: Fox Corporation (FOXA) traded at $54.71 on Thursday, up 3.62% from the previous close, with a market capitalization of approximately $23.46 billion.

What to watch

• Upcoming quarterly earnings reports from Fox and Telemundo’s parent company to assess financial impact of World Cup ad revenue.
• The bidding process for U.S. media rights for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups, expected to begin after the tournament concludes.
• Viewership trends for the quarterfinal and final matches following the elimination of the U.S. and Mexico.

Source: original release