Peak Viewership on FOX Hits 25,622,000 for Lionel Messi and Argentina’s Epic Victory Over France
Biggest Day in FOX Sports Digital History, Led by World Cup Final, Delivers an Average Minute Audience of 1,281,776
Historic Final Drives Surge in Week 15 FOX NFL Viewership with 18,658,000 Viewers Garnering a +41% Increase Over Last Season’s Comparable Window
LOS ANGELES – FOX Sports’ celebrated coverage of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ tournament culminated Sunday with a storybook Final match ending that saw 16,783,000 viewers tune in across FOX and FOX Sports streaming services, delivering record-setting viewership according to Nielsen Media Research Program Ratings.
The crown jewel of the network’s unrivaled portfolio of international soccer tournaments made history as Lionel Messi and Argentina’s historic victory over Kylian Mbappé and France in penalties finished as the most-watched men’s World Cup telecast in English-language U.S. television history, as well as the most-watched men’s FIFA World Cup™ Final in the U.S. topping Italy vs. Brazil in 1994 (14,510,000).
Key Highlights:
FIFA WORLD CUP™ FINAL ON FOX AND FOX SPORTS STREAMING SERVICES
- Up +47% vs. Russia 2018 Final (France vs. Croatia, Sunday morning, 11,441,000 viewers); up +19% vs. Brazil 2014 Final (Germany vs. Argentina, Sunday afternoon, 14,107,000 viewers); up +28% vs. South Africa 2010 Final (Netherlands vs. Spain, Sunday afternoon, 13,087,000 viewers)
- Match peaked at 25,622,000 viewers (12:45 – 1:00 PM ET)
- Top-rated available local markets: Washington, D.C. (12.1/36), New York (11.4/32), Boston (10.7/35), San Francisco (10.5/42), Austin (10.0/33)
- Most-streamed World Cup match in FOX Sports history with average minute audience (AMA) of 1,281,776, up +158% vs. Russia 2018 Final (AMA: 496,081)
- Third most-streamed event in FOX Sports history, after Super Bowl LI and Super Bowl LIV, respectively
- The historic finish on penalties powered a surge in FOX NFL Week 15 lead-in viewership. The FOX NFL single header window on Sunday scored 18,658,000 viewers (+41% over last season’s comparable window)
FIFA WORLD CUP QATAR 2022™ TOURNAMENT HIGHLIGHTS
- Averaged 3,588,000 viewers across 64 matches on FOX and FS1, up +30% vs. Russia 2018 (2,770,000)
- The tournament amassed 2.75 billion streaming minutes across FOX Sports digital streaming
- Most-streamed World Cup tournament in FOX Sports history with AMA of 287,064 up +19% vs. Russia 2018 (AMA: 242,162)
- The third-place match on Saturday, Dec. 17 between Croatia and Morocco scored 3,956,000 viewers on FOX and FOX Sports streaming services, up +30% from the Russia 2018 third-place match on FOX (Belgium vs. England, Saturday morning, 3,052,000 viewers)
FOX SPORTS DIGITAL
Fueled by the Final match, FOX Sports digital scored its biggest day ever on Sunday, Dec. 18, achieving record-highs for unique visitors, live streamers, page views, short-form VOD views, and story reads across digital platforms, including the FOX Sports App and FOXSports.com.
Over the span of the tournament, FOX Sports produced over 130 live-streaming shows, pushed out over 15,000 social media posts and authored more than 700 stories around FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, representing the team’s most ambitious and successful project to date.
@FOXSOCCER ON SOCIAL MEDIA
FOX Sports’ wall-to-wall World Cup coverage across @FOXSoccer social channels on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok drove over 1.2 billion views, up +172% vs. 2018. Powered by World Cup content, @FOXSoccer channels closed November 2022 with the most-viewed month ever for a FOX Sports social vertical with 531 million views, according to Adobe Analytics.
FOX Sports made a splash on Twitter with its dynamically integrated WORLD CUP NOW pre- and post-game show, which generated over 88.4 million views exclusively on the platform to become FOX Sports’ most-viewed digital content series ever, shattering previous 2018 benchmarks according to Twitter Analytics.
WORLD CUP NOW averaged 685,000 viewers over 129 live shows, with pre- and post-game shows for the World Cup Final generating more than 5.8 million views alone. WORLD CUP NOW produced an average audience of 982,800 viewers for shows around U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) matches.
FOX SPORTS APP & FOXSPORTS.COM
FOX Sports reached 61.7 million unique visitors with World Cup content across the FOX Sports App and FOXSports.com, up +74% vs. Russia 2018, with FOXSports.com scoring 49.3 million unique visitors for tournament coverage, up +74% vs. Russia 2018 (28.3 million).
In November 2022, FOX Sports delivered its most-viewed month ever on its digital platforms fueled by its World Cup coverage with 1.4 billion views across the FOX Sports App and FOX Sports.com, up +59% vs. November 2021.
The FOX Sports App saw 9.1 million total new App installs across mobile (6.6M) and living room (2.5M), up +21% from Russia 2018 total installs. The FOX Sports App also scored its most-downloaded month ever in November 2022 with over 12.5 million downloads overall, with 2.6 million users opting to ‘follow’ the FIFA World Cup™ to receive personalized daily updates through mobile alerts.
