The glaring absence of the U.S. men's team from the World Cup has hurt Fox Sports' overall TV ratings, but a wild and wooly 2018 World Cup in Russia is picking up steam with television audiences. Even without Team USA, Fox will probably finish in the green once this World Cup is over.
Croatia's dramatic 4-3 win over host Russia on penalty kicks Saturday averaged 5,664,000 viewers on Fox, up 15 percent from the second day of the 2014 quarterfinals in Brazil and 14 percent from the second day of the 2010 quarterfinals in South Africa.
It was the most-watched quarterfinal matchup, including U.S. matches broadcast in English or Spanish since at least 1990, according to Nielsen Media Research. Fox ratings guru Mike Mulvihill tweeted the Round of 8 viewership nearly equaled the NBA Playoffs.
MORE: A guide to Croatia-England matchup
Said Fox analyst Alexi Lalas: "For drama, for surprises, for emotion, and for passion, this has got to be the greatest World Cup ever. And it’s still not over.”
Round of 8 Viewership:
— Michael Mulvihill (@mulvihill79) July 8, 2018
2018 NBA Playoffs: 4.8 mill
2018 World Cup: 4.5 mill
Friday morning match kept the WC from getting there but still pretty impressive just to be this close.
Earlier on Saturday, England beat Sweden 2-0. That match averaged 4,763,000 viewers, up six percent on the Argentina vs. Belgium Quarterfinal in 2014. With fans at a fever pitch over the penalty kicks, the @FoxSoccer handle on Twitter drew 13.1 million views.
Still, the U.S. men's team's failure to qualify for the first time since 1986 took its toll on Fox's early World Cup ratings, noted Stephen Battaglio of the Los Angeles Times.
Through the round of 16, Fox has averaged 3.64 million viewers, down 36% from what ESPN and ABC averaged in 2014, according to Nielsen. Excluding the U.S. matches in 2014, the drop is 19%. Telemundo’s average audience through July 1 is 2.1 million viewers, which includes streaming. Univision averaged 3.5 million viewers over the entire tournament in 2014.
But while the comparisons to Brazil four years ago aren’t pretty, the networks carrying this year’s tournament say they are doing better than expected, considering the circumstances. Not only is there no U.S. team, but the Russian venue meant many early-round games started in the morning in the U.S. In 2014, they aired in the afternoon and prime time.
The World Cup semifinals with France playing Belgium and Croatia taking on England airs on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, while the final is set for July 15. Fans in England have gone crazy over their team's success. They even celebrated their team's win over Sweden by storming an IKEA store in London.
Fox's lead studio host Rob Stone likes England's chances against Croatia.
“If you’re England, you just might be licking your chops," Stone said. "You’re seeing an absolutely exhausted Croatia. They’ve been pushed to the limit in back-to-back games, and now they have to pack their bags and head to Moscow for the semifinals on Wednesday against England to play for a spot in the final.”
