World Cup final breaks viewership records

Sunday's FIFA World Cup final drew more than 62.8 million viewers in the U.S., making it the most-watched World Cup final and soccer telecast in American history.

Why it matters: The record audience underscores soccer's growing popularity in the U.S. and is likely to boost the value of future media rights.

By the numbers: The game, which saw Spain beat defending champion Argentina 1–0 in extra time, also was the most-watched soccer match in Spanish-language media history, Telemundo said.

• Nearly 39 million U.S. viewers watched the game on Fox, which had exclusive English-language broadcast rights in the U.S. Those figures are up 132% from the 2022 final on Fox, the company said.
• Another nearly 24 million U.S. viewers tuned into the broadcast on Telemundo, which had exclusive Spanish-language broadcast rights in the U.S. Those figures are up 166% from the 2022 final on Telemundo.

Streaming played a big role in the tournament's reach. June was the biggest subscriber acquisition month for Fox's streaming service, Fox One, according to Antenna.

• Fox One added an estimated 2.8 million new subscribers in June, more than 2.5 times its previous monthly record in January during the NFL playoffs, per Antenna.
• Nearly all of Fox's new June subscribers — 93% — were first-time customers rather than returning users.

The intrigue: Peacock, which streams Telemundo, also saw strong subscriber growth, recording an estimated 3.75 million U.S. sign-ups in June, per Antenna.

• Streaming accounted for nearly half of Telemundo's World Cup audience, up from 30% in 2022, per Telemundo.
• Telemundo's coverage resonated beyond Spanish speakers, as some preferred the energetic commentary, lack of commercials during the hydration breaks and cheaper cost of Peacock compared to Fox One.

Between the lines: America hosting the tournament, a competitive U.S. men's national team and broader streaming distribution helped push viewership to new heights in the U.S.

• The U.S. team's matches set audience records. Fox said the U.S. opening match against Paraguay on June 12 became the most-watched FIFA Men's World Cup telecast in English-language U.S. history, averaging 18 million viewers.
• The U.S. men's victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1 set the record as the biggest English-language TV audience for any soccer match in America with 26.4 million viewers on Fox.
• The U.S. team's loss to Belgium on July 6 later bested the record with 37.2 million viewers on Fox, per Nielsen, along with 12.9 million viewers on Telemundo, for more than 50 million combined.
• The July 5 match between Mexico and England came close to that record with 46.7 million viewers on Fox and Telemundo.

The big picture: The FIFA World Cup has historically attracted the largest global audience of any recurring television event worldwide.

• FIFA has not yet released worldwide figures. The 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France held the previous final game viewership record at 1.42 billion worldwide, per FIFA.
• Live sports remain one of the few programming categories capable of attracting massive live audiences, driving both advertising revenue and streaming subscriptions.
• FIFA also experimented with bringing more American-style entertainment to the event, including its first halftime show for a World Cup final, to help the tournament appeal beyond traditional soccer fans.

What to watch: FIFA is expected to cash in on the tournament's success by opening up the media rights bidding process for the 2030 World Cup.

• Fox and Telemundo's current agreements ran through the 2026 tournament, after FIFA extended the deals without a competitive bidding process for the 2022 tournament.
• FIFA has reportedly alerted media companies that English- and Spanish-language U.S. rights are likely to be sold together as a package for 2030, per CNBC, with Netflix, Disney and YouTube all interested in bidding.