According to an ESPN article, the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final ranks as the most-watched men’s World Cup game ever among viewers.
ABC’s telecast delivered an 8.1 household rating, 9,389,000 households, and 15,545,000 viewers.
The Final match was still behind the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final (U.S.-China from the Rose Bowl) averaged more viewers for a soccer game (17,975,00), according to the ESPN article.
Compared to the LeBron James special on ESPN, LeBron lost out, “producing nearly 10 million viewers and a 7.3 rating,” said Jonathan Berr in an article on Dailyfinance.com.
The rating means that at the time 7.3 percent of televisions were tuned into the special as opposed to the 8.1 percent for the World Cup.
Despite the U.S.’s early exit from the Cup, viewers continued to tune in giving the World Cuprecord levels of public interest. However while the U.S. was still competing, they did provide some of the Cup’s most watched matches. In the same ESPN article the U.S. vs. Ghana match had the highest ratings for a single match with an 8.5. Also the same match was, among households, the second most watched game in the U.S. with 9,455,000.
It’s quite evident the World Cup is growing in popularity and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln students would gladly concur.
Katie McClelland, a senior child, youth and family studies major at UNL, said she had watched past world cup games and despite no major enthusiasm, was excited for this year’s matches.
“It’s definitely gaining in interest to almost as much as baseball,” she said.
Down at the UNL soccer fields on 17th and Vine, Kawal Ali, Iraqi native, now lives in Lincoln, said there are huge fans around here, especially around these soccer fields.
“I wouldn’t pay attention to the NBA Finals because the World Cup was all I watched,” Ali said.
Andrew Holt and Tyson McGill, freshmen at UNL, both agreed the interest level around here (UNL) was very high, “People that weren’t even soccer fans watched,” Andrew said.
Nathan Dale, a life-long soccer player and UNL senior, was relieved to take a break from the action at the soccer fields and comment on this years Cup.
“There was a lot bigger impact than before, mainly due to the U.S. proving that they can show up and be successful and also ESPN bringing in big names like Alexi Lalas and Steve McManaman,” he said.
The U.S. national team did exactly that, by showing they can play well when it counts. Also, with Major League Soccer bringing big names to the U.S. soccer scene, the impact soccer has is bound to grow.
When the next World Cup rolls around in 2014, the energy may again reach new levels.