This whole “Summer of Soccer” thing is working out pretty well for Fox Sports 1, huh? The Women’s World Cup was a smashing success for Fox Sports, and the CONCACAF Gold Cup has followed up that success with some of its own.
Each of the three USMNT games has drawn a record audience for a non-WWC game on Fox Sports 1. The opener last Tuesday against Honduras drew 986,000 viewers. Last Friday’s match with Haiti picked up 1.035 million viewers. And now, we have the group stage finale from Monday against Panama, which increased the record once again to 1.085 million viewers. The continued growth is encouraging, and Fox will likely be in for another massive audience on Saturday for the USMNT’s match with Cuba, airing on Fox’s broadcast network.
Overall, this year’s Gold Cup has averaged 343,000 viewers for the group stage matches through Monday. Even though a total of zero group stages matches aired on the Fox broadcast network, the Gold Cup is up 90% from the group stage two years ago, which aired on Fox and Fox Soccer. The USMNT matches alone are also performing much better, and are up 92% from the previous tournament.
This summer has been exactly the boost Fox Soccer needed. Fantastic ratings? Less criticism over their coverage? Compelling stories on and off the pitch? Everything has come up aces for Fox Soccer lately, and a US win in the Gold Cup would be the perfect way to end the summer.
