The 2026 FIFA World Cup is the first to be measured with Nielsen’s expanded out-of-home viewing sample, and it appears the change is providing a huge boon for the networks televising the event.
Nielsen first began including its out-of-home viewing measurements into its top-line audience figures in 2020, but the company’s initial out-of-home sample covered just two-thirds of the United States. That changed in 2024, when the company expanded its out-of-home measurements to cover the entire contiguous United States, providing an additional lift for live sporting events that are disproportionately viewed outside one’s home.
Perhaps there is no sporting event more emblematic of that viewing experience than the World Cup, where millions of people gather at bars, restaurants, stadiums, and other public watch parties across the country to enjoy the beautiful game. And given this year’s World Cup is the first to include Nielsen’s full out-of-home coverage, compared to the 2022 tournament that had the limited sample, it’s no surprise that out-of-home viewing is providing a huge lift to World Cup broadcasters.
A recent report by Anthony Crupi in Sportico pegged out-of-home viewership as nearly one-quarter of all viewership for certain World Cup games. For instance, approximately 3.6 million viewers watched the United States’ opening game against Paraguay outside the home. That accounted for about 20% of the total English-language audience on Fox. Out-of-home viewing accounted for 29% of Mexico’s opening match against South Africa, which averaged 7.19 million viewers.
“I really think out-of-home is the most impactful thing to happen in the industry over the last 25 years,” Mike Mulvihill, Fox Sports’ president of insights and analytics told Sportico. “Prior to the introduction of out-of-home, these big public viewing events were a negative for us. You don’t want people to come out and watch a match in a public place when you’re not getting credit for it, but now we have a real incentive to be supportive of those gatherings.”
It’s been a successful World Cup so far for Fox from a ratings standpoint. Fox Sports is averaging 6.66 million viewers per game across Fox and FS1, up a whopping 152% versus the average Group Stage match in 2022.
Part of the early success is, of course, simply about time zones. A home World Cup was always going to rate better than one held in Qatar because of the favorable match times and the added excitement of games being played on home soil. But out-of-home viewing is certainly playing a role, too.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.