CBS Sports is disputing ESPN’s claim that the USA/Algeria World Cup match drew the largest online audience ever for a sporting event.
ESPN3.com drew 1.1 million unique viewers for the USA/Algeria World Cup match on Wednesday morning. In a press release, ESPN said the match drew “the largest U.S. audience ever for a sports event on the web.”
A separate ESPN.com article said that the game “[beat] the Duke-Butler NCAA championship basketball game on a Monday night from earlier this year.”
CBS Sports has responded to those claims with a press release of its own, arguing that “it was incorrect for ESPN to assume the Duke-Butler championship game … would produce the largest online number for the tournament.” According to CBS, a Florida/BYU first round game drew 1.115 million viewers, compared the 1.100 million for USA/Algeria.
Additionally, the network says that ESPN did not contact them to “confirm that the Duke-Butler game was our largest single game from the 2010 tournament.”
