2011 Another Great Summer for TV ratings: Gold Cup Final, WWC, Copa America, & World Football Chal.

This is going to be a very busy summer for the fans of the beautiful game in the US when it comes to television. We have many tournaments that will keep the momentum of international soccer leading to the World Cup in Brazil in 2014. We have started with GOLD CUP, and so far, the ratings have been exceptional and another indication that the appetite for international soccer is growing and will continue to grow.

The most important point for me is that Soccer is becoming a hot property during the summer months in the US. It starts with the Uefa Champions League Final in late May, then leading to the months of JUNE, July, and even early part of August. These are the peak months for Soccer in this country in terms of television ratings. ESPN should see decent ratings for the Women's World Cup(especially the US games). A US vs Germany Final should produce great number for ESPN (we will discuss this later this week). Copa America will produce another record breaking numbers for Univision since it will also attract the English-speaking audience for the games. World Football Challenge will produce decent numbers for ESPN (peaking with the ManU vs. Barcelona game). The MLS All Star game could fetch atleast 1 million viewers on ESPN only (not counting Galavasion, and ESPNDeportes).

We will start with Gold Cup. So far, Univision and FOX Soccer channel has seen tremendous growth for this tournament. Univision is averaging over 2.1 million so far, and Fox Soccer channel rating's for GOLD CUP have risen over 80%.

Some highlights...

Wednesday's Semis...US vs. Panama was seen by 3.5 million on Univision and another almost 400k on Fox Soccer Channel. Therefore, we almost had 4 million viewers watching the US game.

Univision is seeing great ratings for the Mexico games. According to Univision, there are seeing more traffic from the non-Spanish speaking market. The reason is that FOX Soccer Channel is only showing limited games (only US games), and the channel has limited penetration in term's of it's distribution. So, most viewers have to migrate to the Univision's family of networks.

As for the Gold Cup Final, I see the following record breaking Gold Cup TV ratings.

Univision: The US vs Mexico match on Saturday night will be seen by almost 9-10 million viewers. (I wouldn't rule out numbers as high as 10-11 million). This game could become the highest rated event for Univision, eclipsing the World Cup game of Mexico vs Argentina (which was seen by over 9 million viewers). The fact the game is on primetime will also help the cause.

Fox Soccer Channel: The US vs. Mexico could become the highest rated soccer game ever on this channel. The game should see anywhere between 700K-900K on Fox Soccer channel.

In Summary, the final combined numbers could be 9.7 million-10.9 million (Univision+ Fox Soccer Channel). We should see another 150k streaming the game on Univision's website. I wouldn't be surprised to see ESPN making a bid for future tournaments for the English speaking rights.

I will focus on the Women's World Cup next, followed by Copa America and World Football Challenge. Enjoy this busy summer of Soccer. We will have another great summer next year. We will have a Mini-World Cup event called the EURO 2012 on ESPN.

 

Re: 2011 Another Great Summer for TV ratings: Gold Cup Final, WWC, Copa America, & World Football Ch

U must be kidding....Univision tv ratings pop up a lot more on ur English media and blogs..tvbythenumbers and sports media blog, sports Business Daily and others focus on soccer related tv ratings. By the way, u don't think those ratings are not studied by other media outlets for research and studying trends with tv ratings ? The answer is yes. Univision will get atleast 20% of its rating from the English speaking side watching the final because of Fox Soccer channel limited distribution.

 

Re: 2011 Another Great Summer for TV ratings: Gold Cup Final, WWC, Copa America, & World Football Ch

In the Bay Area, u get Univision & Telefutura on over the air or part of ur local channel line up..

 

Re: 2011 Another Great Summer for TV ratings: Gold Cup Final, WWC, Copa America, & World Football Ch

According to overnight ratings on tvbythenumbers, Univision beat all the other network substantially. The Final numbers will come out tomorrow...My bet is that this is going to be the highest rated soccer game ever on Univision (with atleast 20% or more of the rating's attributed to the English Speaking fans of the game). Fox Soccer will release their numbers hopefully by the end of this week.

I estimate 9+million viewers on Univision
And, another 700K-900K on Fox Soccer Channel (possibly the highest rated game to date in the channel's history)...

On Monday or Tuesday, I will start focusing on the Women's game.

 

Re: 2011 Another Great Summer for TV ratings: Gold Cup Final, WWC, Copa America, & World Football Ch

While we wait for Gold Cup Final numbers, it should be important to note that this tournament could become a very interesting tournament going forward. I think it makes sense to do this tournament every 4 years because the winner will secure a spot in the Confederation Cup. This means the 2013 version will be meaningless except for bragging rights. Mexico will bring their B-team because they will be focusing on the Confed Cup 2013 in Brazil. The 2015 version will have deeper implication. In summary, this tournament could become another important tournament for ESPN family of networks. The ratings on Univision so far have been great, and a clear indication that there is interest in this tournament (even if you exclude the Mexican games, the US games on Univision did very well). I also think it would make sense to have this tournament on years that it will not compete with Copa America. This will allow teams like the US and Mexico to be part of a meaningful tournaments within a 4 year cycle, not overlapping on the same year. If it overlaps, it becomes a demanding situation for both federation to be able to participate with their best team on the field (too much to ask from players who already have a long season playing somewhere else).

The best solution is to make Copa America something like the European Championship: you merge GOLD CUP and Copa America. For instance, Copa America will invite the top 3-4 teams from Concaf region (based on the previous World Cup cycle qualification results). This will make Copa America more interesting and more compelling. If that happens, you will have another tournament that could become a hot property for tv rights for the likes of ESPN or FOX.

 

Re: 2011 Another Great Summer for TV ratings: Gold Cup Final, WWC, Copa America, & World Football Ch

Twix...8 million viewers is a pretty great number for a Saturday Night...It is a progression...Compare the numbers between 2007 and 2009 and 2011...You see a trend that is growing...

I was expecting 9 million or more, but it still a very solid number. FOX Soccer should be reporting a great number, possibly the highest rated soccer game ever on that channel.

So, with Fox Soccer channel, we will be closer to 9 million viewers for a non-World cup game. I think we are getting spoiled, and we have to be realistic. Based on Univision previous articles, they are seeing English speaking viewers as well...If you look at mainstream media, ESPN has been talking about the game since saturday. Today, it was mentioned again on many of their shows (PTI, The Herd, Around the Horn, and etc).

Years ago, we would have been happy with 4-5 million viewers. The growing positive trend for this tournament shows that international soccer is seeing major growth in this country. I think you were also complaining about getting 900k for US friendly game. Once again, you are missing the boat: we used to see much lower numbers previously.

Univision got almost 3.5 million for the Semifinal with the US vs. Panama. So, do you think it was all Mexicans or Spanish speaking viewers watching that game? It shows that many of the non-Spanish speaking or US soccer fans watched the games on Univision because of FOX Soccer Channel limited distribution. So, your claim that no American watched the game is pretty much unjustified and irrational.

I know many of my friends who watched the game on Univision because they didn't have access to FOX Soccer channel. So, when Copa America starts, do you think it is just Mexicans, and Spanish speaking viewers watching the games on Univision family of networks? No, offcourse not...You are going to see many casual or neutral fans watching it on Univision....I know i will be watching...

 

Re: 2011 Another Great Summer for TV ratings: Gold Cup Final, WWC, Copa America, & World Football Ch

3.6 Demo is the key...Many of the primetime shows will die to get that kind of Demo....Only a handful of top shows (in the TOP 10) will muster a 3.0 or higher in the key Demo. This is a key number for sponsors and advertisers of the game...

Soccer tends to attract the KEY DEMOs...End of the story..

 

Re: 2011 Another Great Summer for TV ratings: Gold Cup Final, WWC, Copa America, & World Football Ch

Now, I will be shifting toward the Women's World Cup...

In 2007, The World Cup averaged 0.4 rating, with almost 400K viewers on ESPN and 0.2 rating on ESPN2, with over 200K...The average for both networks was about 250K viewers. The time difference was the problem...This year, the time difference is only 6 hours. This year's World Cup will be the most intense and with more teams that are getting better. So, the quality of the games have improved from years ago...

ESPN will see somewhere between 0.7-0.8 rating, with about 1.1-1.2 million average. ESPN2 will see it's average jump to around 0.4-0.5 for this tournament, with about 450k-500K average viewers. The average between the two channels will be over 500K, possibly as high as 600k-700K viewers. The numbers will remain at these levels with the US getting to the Semis and Finals...

On the Plus side, we could see the average rating jump to 1.0 with about 1.5 million average with the US being on the Final for ESPN (Excluding ESPN2), for all the games. The 2010 Men's World Cup averaged 3.3 million for all the games on ESPN.

The US games:

The three group phase matches should average about 1.0-1.5 million viewers on ESPN...the highest rated game should be this Saturday against Columbia since it is on a weekend.

The Quarterfinal match involving the US should reach around 2.5-3 million on ESPN.

The Semifinal game for the US could reach around 3.5-4.5million on ESPN. 5 million + will be on the bullish side on ESPN.

A Final between US. vs. Germany or US. vs. Brazil will bring about 7-8 million on ESPN. 10million+ for the Final involving the US will be on the bullish side...

In summary, the 1999 World Cup was like an aberrattion from the norm. It was a unique and a compeling time for the Women's World Cup. It would be very difficult to replicate those numbers, and the 18 million watching the final. But regardless, ESPN will be satisfied to see ratings' growth from 2007 World Cup Finals. They got these rights for dirt cheap, almost like a bonus from FIFA.

 

Re: 2011 Another Great Summer for TV ratings: Gold Cup Final, WWC, Copa America, & World Football Ch

I had a good feeling about this one being the highest rated soccer game ever on FOX SOCCER Channel...The Key Demo should encompass half of the total viewers...

This means the game got something like 0.7-0.8 Household rating...

The Combined audience reached the 9 million mark...

over 100K streaming the game online on Univision...

The game had about 4.7 million total viewers in the Key Demo on Univision, beating game 7 of Stanley Cup Finals on NBC on the key Demo. I would add another 500k viewers on FOX as part of the key Demo...

Total combined viewers for the key Demo on Fox Soccer Channel+ Univision...almost 5.2 million...this would translate to about 4.0-4.1 for a key DEMO...

The combined household rating of Univision and Fox Soccer channel will be about 3.8-3.9 rating...(3.1 on Univision and about 0.7 on Fox Soccer Channel)

The combined audience will make it the number 7 program for the week in regards to all primetime shows on network television...

In the Key Demo, the rating will be about 4.0 (combined), making the 2nd highest rated show for the week in terms of all network primetime shows.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...agt-gold-cup-soccer-lead-weeks-viewing/96714/ (this is just with Univision, not counting Fox Soccer channel)

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...-sports-broadcast-in-univision-history/96783/

In reality, Soccer's biggest advantage compared to other sports is the Key Demo...On Univision, almost 60% of viewers were in the 18-49 bracket...On Fox Soccer channel, i estimate atleast 50% from the key Demo...

In summary, my Fox Soccer channel rating fell within my estimation (actually, about 50k higher than my range), and i was accurate with my assumption that this game will become FOX SOCCER channel's highest rated game to date.

On Univision, i expected 8-9 million, and it came within that range...