USA sets record-breaking viewership figures in Bolivia win
Sunday night’s Copa America game between the United States and Bolivia scored a record-breaking viewership of 4.665 million across FOX Sports and TelevisaUnivision.
The primetime broadcast slot of 6 p.m. ET when the USMNT kicked off paid major dividends for FOX and TelevisaUnivision, the rights holders for Copa America.
Specifically on the FOX broadcast channel, the USMNT win over Bolivia averaged 3.165 million viewers. That is the most-watched non-World Cup soccer telecast in FOX’s history. Additionally, it is the most-watched English-language broadcast of a Copa America game in US history. The 2016 Copa America group-stage broadcasts on Fox Sports 1 also featured the USMNT playing in the United States. Yet, this game involving the United States represented a 108% increase on that average of 1.521 million.
Regarding the United States side, this game also showed a massive boost. The 2023 Gold Cup was the last major tournament in which the USMNT featured. Coverage was also available on FOX. The win over Bolivia was a 191% increase in the viewership of the USMNT on FOX against Trinidad and Tobago. Clearly, fans of the United States have a vested interest in the side’s run at the Copa America.
Spanish-language viewership for USA and Bolivia in Copa strong
While FOX has been showing success with both the Euros and the Copa America, TelevisaUnivision wanted to make a splash in the Copa America scene as well. The Spanish-language broadcaster aired the game between the USMNT and Bolivia on both Univision and TUDN, allowing abundant fans to watch the game.
For Sunday’s contest, the Spanish-language broadcaster announced an average viewership of 1.5 million. Therefore, the combined average audience for the USMNT win against Bolivia was 4.665 million. For comparison, the England-USMNT game in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup averaged 19.977 million. That game had all the draw possible for fans in the United States. Therefore, FOX and TelevisaUnivision amassing 4.665 million viewers for a group-stage game at the Copa America against Bolivia is a positive sign.
The Spanish-language audience for the USMNT was lower than those watching Mexico and Argentina. The Mexico win over Jamaica averaged 2.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched telecast of the year on Spanish-language TV. Even the opening game of the Copa America between Argentina and Canada averaged 1.83 million viewers on TelevisaUnivision’s networks.
Euros and Copa America showing immense success
Looking specifically at the English-language coverage of the summer of soccer, FOX will be massively pleased with the number of fans watching both the Euros and the Copa America. The USMNT’s appearance in the Copa America, plus the rise in the number of teams, has massively helped viewership of the tournament. Then, the quality of the European Championship so far and the star power associated with the top teams in the round of 16 will continue to set record viewership for that tournament.
PHOTOS: IMAGO