US Women’s National Team’s Early Elimination Is Trouble For Fox

NBC is going to feel the negative effects as well.

Aug 7, 2023 - 22:30

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US Women’s National Team’s Early Elimination Is Trouble For Fox

The US Women’s National Team was eliminated in the Round of 16 at the Women’s World Cup, the team’s earliest exit in the history of the tournament.

And Fox (FOXA) - Get Free Report is likely going to feel a huge viewership hit because of it.

Fox has been airing the Women’s World Cup games hosted by Australia and New Zealand across its English platforms, and its already seen drops in viewership due to the time zone difference.

Through 46 of the 48 group stage matches, Fox is averaging 610,000 viewers on Fox and Fs1, which is a 37% decrease from the 2019 Women’s World Cup held in France.

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The Spanish-language viewership across NBCUniversal’s (CMCSA) - Get Free Report Telemundo and Peacock are averaging 135,000 viewers, which is down 30% from 2019.

But the USWNT had its most-watched group stage round, averaging 4.34 million viewers on Fox’s English networks and 911,000 on the Spanish telecasts, up 11% and 57%, respectively.

The team’s first two games drew 6.26 million and 7.93 million viewers, respectively, but those were aired during prime time in the United States. Its lone group stage game was held at 3 a.m. Eastern Time only garnered 1.56 million viewers.

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There are no numbers yet for the women’s team’s lone knockout stages match against Sweden that was at 5 a.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, August 6, but the team’s premature exit mixed with the time zone difference does not bode well for Fox ratings moving forward.

Fox is paying $500 million to air the men’s and women’s World Cup games through 2026, and Telemundo owns the rights to the Spanish broadcasts until 2026 as well.

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