• by Wayne Friedman , July 12, 2010

U.S. viewership of the World Cup final in South Africa on Sunday, in which Spain beat the Netherlands in overtime, was the most-viewed soccer game ever.

Nielsen says it drew 24.3 million from the broadcast on ABC and Univision -- the most-watched soccer game in U.S. television history. This bested the previous record, also set in this year's World Cup event, when USA played Ghana and pulled in 19.4 million ABC/Univision viewers on June 26.

Other big soccer events: The World Cup 1994 finals with Brazil and Italy reached 18.1 million, the third-best-rated soccer game. The women's final in 1999 -- when the USA beat China -- scored 18.0 million, landing it in fourth place. The first USA World Cup game against England was the fifth-best soccer game ever, at 17.1 million.

The local markets with the best ratings include San Francisco-Oakland (14.7 household rating/36 share); San Diego (13.6/28); and New York (13.1/30). New York registered the biggest actual numbers in terms of households, with 984,000; Los Angeles was in second place with 642,000.

Among Spanish-language TV homes, Miami was No. 1 with a 16.8 household rating/31 share; Los Angeles, 11.9/25; and Houston, 10.7 /21. Los Angeles was the highest in actual TV homes, at 675,000; New York was in second place, with 404,0000.

Most Watched Soccer Games in the U.S.
Rank	Date	Game	Network(s)	Viewers
1	7/11/2010	Spain-Netherlands	ABC/Univision	24.3 million
2	6/26/2010	USA-Ghana	ABC/Univision	19.4 million
3	7/17/1994	Brazil-Italy	ABC/Univision	18.1 million
4	7/10/1999	USA-China (women)	ABC	18.0 million
5	6/12/2010	USA-England	ABC/Univision	17.1 million
Source: The Nielsen Company

 

2010 World Cup Finals (7/11/10) Local Market Rankings - English Language
Rank	Market	Rating	Share	Households (000)
1	San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose	14.7	36	367
2	San Diego	13.6	28	146
3	New York	13.1	30	984
4	MIami-Ft. Lauderdale	12.0	22	184
5	Washington, DC	11.9	25	277
6	Los Angeles	11.3	24	642
7	Austin	10.3	21	70
8	Seattle-Tacoma	10.0	26	183
9	Cincinnati	9.5	19	87
10	Boston (Manchester)	9.1	22	220
Source: The Nielsen Company

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2010 World Cup Finals (7/11/10) Local Market Rankings - Spanish Language
Rank	Market	Rating	Share	Households (000)
1	Miami-Ft. Lauderdale	16.8	31	259
2	Los Angeles	11.9	25	675
3	Houston	10.7	21	228
4	Las Vegas	8.1	15	59
5	San Antonio	6.7	13	56
6	Dallas-Ft. Worth	6.6	14	169
7	Phoenix	5.6	12	104
8	New York	5.4	12	404
9	Austin	5.1	10	35
10	Chicago	4.5	10	158
Source: The Nielsen Company