Women’s soccer remains the most-watched soccer match in TV history
The 2015 Women’s World Cup final against Japan racked up 25.4 million domestic viewers. No other soccer game, women’s or men’s, has had more domestic viewers. Ever.
The TV viewership numbers are still coming in for the 2019 Women’s World Cup Final. The broadcast has an initial overnight “metered market rating” of 10.0. Actual viewership numbers set to be released later today. “Metered market rating” is a media business term that provides an initial baseline for viewership while the final numbers are calculated.
Fox released that this was the “best metered market rating for a US soccer telecast since the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup final.”
Summary of initial metered market ratings:
2015 Women’s World Cup final: 15.2
2019 Women’s World Cup final: 10.0
2018 Men’s World Cup final: 8.9
America loves women’s soccer, and Europe does, too.
TV ratings weren’t just huge in America. Of all the televisions that were turned on in Holland, 88% of them were tuned to the final. Eighty-eight percent!
TV ratings were also huge in England. 11.7 million viewers in England watched the England vs USA semi-final. That’s not just the biggest British soccer (sorry, “football”) TV rating. The semi-final grabbed the biggest television audience of ANY show in England year-to-date.
In France, 41% of televisions viewers were tuned to the final. German viewership was huge as well. 5.1 million Germans watched the final, a 28% share. Even though France, Germany, and England had already been eliminated, television ratings in those countries were huge.
“Equal Pay” chants erupt during final
After the USA won, chants of “Equal Pay” rang though the stadium. Likewise, #PayThem quickly began trending on twitter as well. Will women’s soccer begin to pay players as well as men? We shall see….
