Ratings Roundup: World Cup Final Draws Largest Non-NFL U.S. TV Audience in Nearly 30 Years

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, the FIFA World Cup 2026 dominated the conversation with historic viewership across every platform and language, while the Open Championship, Sunday Night Baseball, NASCAR, and the NBA Summer League also made noise.

Nielsen's Top 25 Live Sports Events Telecasts for the week of July 13-19 was dominated by the FIFA World Cup 2026 (more details below), scoring eight of the Top 12 spots and led by FOX's coverage of the Final between Spain and Argentina at #1 with a record-breaking 38,937,000 viewers. England vs. Argentina landed at #2 on FOX, France vs. England at #3, and France vs. Spain at #4, with Telemundo's coverage of Spain vs. Argentina checking in at #5, England vs. Argentina at #8, France vs. Spain at #9, and France vs. England at #12.

A combined 66.4 million viewers across FOX (42.5 million) and Telemundo (23.9 million). That marks television's largest audience, excluding NFL games and news events, since the series finale of Seinfeld in 1998 (76.3M), according to SportsMediaWatch. Including NFL games, only the Super Bowl has averaged more viewers dating back to '98.

The rest of Nielsen's Top 25 Live Sports Events Telecasts featured a mix of the MLB All-Star Game (#6), the Home Run Derby (#7), British Open (five telecasts in the Top 25 including the final round at #10), MLB (Yankees vs. Dodgers on NBC at #11, Giants vs. Mariners on FOX at #15, and Mets vs. Phillies on ESPN at #20), WNBA (Liberty vs. Fever on CBS at #16, Valkyries vs. Fever on USA Network at #23, and regional coverage on ION at #25), NASCAR (#17), and the Tour de France (#19 and #24).

FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 Coverage Shatters All-Time U.S. Viewership Records With Historic Final

FOX Sports' coverage of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Final etched its place in the record books as the most-watched soccer telecast in U.S. history. The Spain vs. Argentina Final on July 19 averaged 38,937,000 viewers on FOX, peaking at 51,685,000 viewers from 5:45-6:00 PM ET as Spain secured a 1-0 victory in extra time. The match-only window on FOX drew 42.5 million viewers.

Overall, the tournament finished as the most-watched FIFA World Cup in U.S. history, averaging 7,737,000 viewers across 104 matches on FOX, FS1 and Tubi - up 116% vs. the 2022 tournament and up 179% vs. 2018. Two matches surpassed 30 million viewers, five broke 20 million, and 11 eclipsed 15 million viewers throughout the tournament.

The bronze final between France and England on July 18 drew 13,130,000 viewers on FOX, becoming the most-watched FIFA Men's World Cup third-place telecast in U.S. history, peaking at 18,529,000 viewers.

The FIFA World Cup 2026 Semifinals averaged 15,088,000 viewers on FOX - the most-watched FIFA Men's World Cup Semifinals in U.S. history, up 131% from the 2022 Semifinal average. Argentina vs. England drew 16,900,000 viewers and Spain vs. France drew 13,108,000, ranking first and second all-time for most-watched World Cup Semifinal telecasts in the U.S.

On the digital side, FOX Sports generated more than 17.2 billion content views across digital and social platforms - the most digitally viewed event in network history - including 542 million social video views on Final day alone. FOX Sports grew its social media audience by more than 10 million followers during the tournament's 39-day run.

Kansas City led all local markets with a 4.89 rating/20 share for the full tournament on FOX and FS1, followed by Boston (3.91/16), Austin (3.91/20), San Francisco (3.84/21), and Dallas (3.77/17).

FIFA World Cup on FOX After Hours With James Corden ranked No. 1 among broadcast late night talk shows in M18-49, M18-34 and M25-54 across the tournament run.

Telemundo Deportes and Peacock Rewrite Spanish-Language History With Record FIFA World Cup 2026 Audiences

Telemundo and Peacock redefined soccer fandom in Spanish-language media, closing out FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage with records broken at every stage of the tournament. The event averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 6.3 million viewers across all 104 matches - up 143% vs. the 2022 tournament.

The Spain vs. Argentina Final on July 19 delivered a 23.9 million TAD, becoming the most-watched soccer match in Spanish-language media history. On streaming, the Final drew 13.9 million average minute audience (AMA) on Peacock and Telemundo platforms - the most-streamed World Cup match in Spanish-language history.

Mexico vs. England in the Round of 16 was the second most-watched soccer match in Spanish-language media history with 23.2 million TAD; on linear, the full program averaged 10.1 million viewers from 8:25-11:20 p.m. ET. The France vs. England Third Place match delivered 7.7 million TAD, the most-watched Third Place game in Spanish-language media history, up 225% vs. 2022.

Streaming comprised 48% of Telemundo's total World Cup audience, up from 30% in 2022, with digital AMA growing 297% year over year to 3 million viewers. A total of 77.2 billion minutes were consumed across Telemundo, Universo, Peacock, and Telemundo streaming platforms - surpassing the combined 2018 and 2022 tournament totals by 79%.

Telemundo ranked as the #1 Spanish-language television network across all 34 matchdays. June 2026 was Telemundo's highest-performing month in network history. The FIFA World Cup 2026 generated 2.25 billion video views across social platforms and 75.1 million social actions - nearly 3x the combined 2018 and 2022 totals.

Bell Media's FIFA World Cup 2026 Coverage Reaches 75% of Canada's Population in Biggest Tournament Ever for Canadian Broadcasters

Bell Media smashed Canadian records with the biggest FIFA World Cup ever seen north of the border. A total of 30.5 million unique Canad

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/07/24/ratings-roundup-world-cup-final...
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