July 13, 2014; Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL; Germany forward Lukas Podolski (10) reacts with teammates after winning the championship match of the 2014 World Cup against the Argentina at Maracana Stadium. Germany won 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Tim Groothuis/Witters Sport via USA TODAY Sports
3. Record viewing numbers of 2014 FIFA World Cup
There is no denying that the hype surrounding the USMNT at the recent World Cup was immense, arguably outweighing the interest and anticipation of the tournament in the 1994 FIFA World Cup in which the US where hosts.
The 2014 FIFA World Cup shattered viewing records in the United States almost on a daily basis, with the final between Germany and Argentina comfortably becoming the most-watched soccer game in the history of the country, with an average of almost 30 million viewers.
The World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro’s infamous Maracanã stadium was viewed by an average 17.3 million people on ABC, combined with 1.8 million people on ESPN’s online streaming service WatchESPN. In addition, Univision’s Spanish-language broadcast of the final averaged 9.2 million viewers, with another 450,000 fans watching via the network’s online app.
Overall, the viewing trend of the World Cup in the United States is continuing to skyrocket. The 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea/Japan averaged just one million viewers in its 64 matches. This figure doubled four years later, before rising to 3.3 million viewers in the 2010 tournament. 2014 saw the viewing numbers increase by 33%, assisted by favorable kick off times in Brazil for US viewers, but these figures don’t even take into account the numerous large-scale “World Cup parties” that became popular over the course of the tournament.
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