Gold Cup Final Gives Fox Soccer Its Largest Audience Ever

U.S.-Mexico delivers 1.43 HH rating; first telecast to break 1.0

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/28/2011 3:04:54 PM

Fox Soccer drew the largest audience in the network's history with its coverage of the U.S.-Mexico match during the 2011 Gold Cup final, amassing 954,000 viewers.

By far the network's most-watched broadcast, the Gold Cup final match more than doubled Fox Soccer's previous record of 418,000 viewers for a February match between Chelsea and Liverpool. It was the most-watched soccer event on an English-language station since the 2010 World Cup.

The Gold Cup final also delivered record ratings for Fox Soccer in the male 18-49 demo, earning a 1.65, and in the male 18-34  demo, earning a 1.64, making it the network's highest key male audience of all time.

The match delivered a 1.43 household coverage area rating, becoming the first telecast in the network's history to break a 1.0. The 1.43 nearly doubles Fox Soccer's previous record of 0.77 for the 2009 Gold Cup final between the same two countries.

"Breaking our viewership record twice in one year speaks to not only the growth of soccer in the United States, but also to the destination Fox Soccer has become in carrying the world's biggest soccer events," said David Nathanson, the network's GM.