FIFA World Cup™ Final on FOX Peaks at Nearly 15 Million Viewers

Soccer 07/16/2018

FOX & FS1 World Cup Coverage Accounts for All 20 of Top 20 Shows Among Men 18-49 in English-Language TV over Last Month

World Cup Content Delivers 3.6 Billion Total Minutes, 558 Million Total Video Views across FOX Sports Streaming, Digital and Social Platforms

NEW YORK & MOSCOW – FOX Sports’ delivery of the FIFA World Cup™ Final peaked at 14,620,000 viewers on the FOX broadcast network Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research. France’s dominant 4-2 victory over Croatia averaged 11,824,000 viewers across FOX and streaming sources.

France’s win was the most-watched non-NFL telecast of any kind on FOX in 2018, and the most-watched telecast on television since the NBA Finals among Men, Women and Adults 18-34 and 18-49, according to Nielsen. It was the first FIFA World Cup™ Final not to go to extra time since 2002, and the first World Cup Final where a team held a three-goal lead before the 90th minute mark since 1970.

As the leader in live sports consumption, FOX and FS1 coverage of the FIFA World Cup™, airing in morning and early afternoon time slots in the U.S., accounted for all 20 of the top-20 shows among Men 18-49 in English-language TV over the last month. In addition, the World Cup delivered the 15 most-watched soccer matches since the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup™.

With a live-match average-minute audience of 552,000 on streaming platforms, the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ Final delivered the largest authenticated Sunday event in FOX Sports history, surpassing the 2018 NFC Championship by 18% (468,000 AMA).

The FIFA World Cup™, a crown jewel of the FOX Sports portfolio, delivered the top three authenticated streaming events in FOX Sports history (ranked in order of live-match average-minute audience):

Croatia-England Semifinal: 830,000
France-Belgium Semifinal: 657,000
Brazil-Belgium Quarterfinal: 615,000

FIFA World Cup™ content delivered 3.6 billion total minutes and 558 million total video views across streaming, digital and social platforms. Prior to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the previous record for a one-month period was October 2017, with 1.5 billion total minutes. Streaming alone amassed a total of 2.6 billion minutes, 87 million views and 9.1 million unique streamers.

FOX Sports digital reached 38 million unique visitors for World Cup content across FOX owned and operated platforms, with FOXSports.com scoring 28.3 million visitors for tournament coverage.

FOX Sports unique partnerships across digital and social platforms paid major dividends, as World Cup Now, a Twitter-only program hosted by Rachel Bonnetta, delivered 7.1 million video views. On Snapchat, 30 million U.S. viewers watched FOX Sports-partnered World Cup content, with more than 70% of the audience under the age of 25. The FIFA World Cup™ Highlight Machine, sponsored by adidas and developed in cooperation with IBM Watson, had nearly 800,000 video views.

According to Nielsen Media Research, the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ on FOX/FS1 produced the following U.S. television marks:

The highest Household Delivery for any Semifinal since at least 1990: Croatia-England – 4,153,000 – Saturday, July 14
The most-watched Quarterfinal on record: Croatia-Russia – 6,386,000 viewers on FOX, Saturday, July 7
The most-watched Quarterfinals day on record – Saturday, July 7
The most-watched weekday non-U.S. Round of 16 match on record: Croatia vs. Denmark – 5,966,000 on FOX, Sunday, July 1
The most-watched non-U.S. Group Stage match on record on English language television: Germany vs. Sweden – 5,452,000 on FOX, Saturday, June 23