Fears of a World Cup ratings disaster did not come to pass, but Fox and Telemundo still suffered double-digit declines.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup averaged 5.04 million viewers across Fox Sports and Telemundo, down 37% from 2014 (8.06M) and down 11% from 2010 (5.65M), both of which aired on ESPN and Univision. All figures are for the match portion only (i.e., excluding pre-match coverage).
FOX and FS1 averaged a 1.9 and 2.98 million, down 32% in ratings and 35% in viewership from 2014 (2.8, 4.56M) and down 10% and 9% respectively from 2010 (2.1, 3.27M). The averages are the lowest for a World Cup on English-language television since 2006 (1.3, 2.32M).
Keep in mind this year’s World Cup was the first since 1986 that did not involve the United States. In addition, the World Cup aired in earlier windows than four years ago, with Sunday’s final the first to start before Noon ET since 2002.
Notably, Telemundo suffered steeper declines despite having its primary draw — Mexico — in as many games as four years ago. The network’s coverage, which includes games on Universo and simulcasts on NBCSN, averaged 2.06 million viewers — down 41% from 2014 (3.5M) and down 13% from 2010 (2.37M).
While Mexico made it as far as in 2014, other Spanish-language draws went out earlier than usual. 2014 finalist Argentina was eliminated in the round of 16.
Outside of France-Croatia final, the largest individual audience of this year’s World Cup was 7.13 million for Mexico-Germany on Telemundo in the group stage. Mexico played in four of the five most-watched matches on Telemundo, Sunday’s final the lone exception.
Fox Sports’ top match outside of the final was Croatia-Russia in the quarterfinals, which had 6.70 million viewers. Croatia played in four of the top five matches on English-language TV, with their round of 16 win over Denmark ranking fourth (6.18M) and their semifinal upset of England fifth (5.90M).
Including streaming, Telemundo averaged 2.27 million. Comparable figures for Fox Sports were not immediately available.
Largest 2018 FIFA World Cup Audiences
