The World Cup was a major success for both ESPN/ABC and Univision.
Univision averaged 2.374 million viewers for coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, up 15% from 2006 and the highest average ever for the World Cup on the network.
The World Cup drew two of the three largest audiences in network history, including Sunday’s Spain/Netherlands final (8.821 million, according to Nielsen fast-nationals). Argentina/Mexico on June 27 drew 9.405 million viewers, the largest audience in Univision history.
Overall, four of the five most-viewed World Cup matches ever on Univision took place this year, including the aforementioned Argentina/Mexico and Spain/Netherlands telecasts, as well as France/Mexico on June 17 (6.036 mil) and South Africa/Mexico on June 11 (5.959 mil).
Including the 3.261 million viewers ESPN/ABC averaged for its coverage (a record for English-language TV), the 2010 FIFA World Cup averaged approximately 5.6 million viewers in the United States.
To put that in perspective, the 2010 NBA Playoffs averaged 5.725 million viewers on ESPN/ABC and TNT (76 games), the 2009-10 college football bowl season averaged 6.627 million viewers on ESPN/ABC, CBS and NFL Network (34 games), and the 2009 MLB Postseason averaged approximately 9.0 million viewers on TBS and FOX (30 games).
Keep in mind that World Cup matches aired exclusively in the morning and afternoon, including several weekday matches that took place during typical work hours. By contrast, NBA, MLB and college football games aired mostly in primetime.
Also of note, every World Cup match had the advantage of airing on two networks at the same time, while most other sporting events air on just one.
