The size and scale of the World Cup is like nothing else we see in sports, and the USA has hopped on the soccer bandwagon.
Viewership numbers skyrocketed during the USMNT’s run, to the point where it’s surpassing almost every non-NFL broadcast of the last ten years.
According to The Guardian, the quarter-final clash against Belgium attracted 33.1 million viewers — by far the biggest number of the 2020s. In an age where generations have moved online and to the smaller screen, generating these numbers is all the more impressive.
The other four ‘single-network telecasts’ making up the top five all came back in 2016 and 2017. If you needed a sign that soccer-fever has hit the US, this is it.
- #1 2016 World Series Game 7 – 40.0 million
- #2 2016 Summer Olympics Night 4, primetime show – 33.4 million
- #3 2026 FIFA World Cup quarter-final, US vs Belgium Round of 16 – 33.1 million
- #4 2017 89th Academy Awards – 33.0 million
- #5 2016 Summer Olympics Night 6, primetime show – 31.2 million
The Chicago Cubs’ 2016 World Series win belongs at the very top of the list. It’s one of the greatest games American sports has ever seen.
The two Olympic Games nights are a bit more surprising. Down in Rio de Janeiro, the US team were dominating track and field, and the population tuned in to watch.
Anyone who watched the 2017 Oscars will have been treated to one of the more uncomfortable moments in awards show history. La La Land was named as Best Picture, only for them to backtrack after the acceptance speeches had already begun, and announce Moonlight as the real winner.
For the World Cup to break into this list is huge. As we mentioned, it’s the first event since 2017 to crack the top five, at a time when TV viewership numbers across the board are plummeting.
It would not be at all surprising to see the final, which will be played at the New York New Jersey stadium, blow this number out of the park.
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