Viewership numbers are in for the USA’s first game of the 2022 World Cup. Adding the numbers from FOX Sports and Telemundo Deportes together, the total USA-Wales viewership was 11.7 million.
Televised on a Monday afternoon from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm ET, the game ended 1-1 with Wales and the United States sharing the points.
Taking a closer look at the numbers, 8.3 million watched on the FOX network (which included 563,000 who watched via FOX’s streaming platforms). Meanwhile, 3.2 million watched on Telemundo (1 million of that was through Peacock and the Telemundo Deportes app).
Top Cities Watching USA-Wales in America
Here are the places where FOX got the highest ratings across the country:
Top 5 rating markets:
1. Austin 2. Cincinnati 3. Dallas 4. San Diego 5. Philadelphia
Compared to the 2018 World Cup, FOX’s average viewership for the first three games increased 193%. In 2018, the average was 1,374 million. Now, in 2022, it is at 4,026,000. Of course, it always helps when the USMNT qualifies for a World Cup.
Focus shifts to Black Friday
For both FOX Sports and Telemundo, the focus now shifts to Black Friday as the United States plays England in a must-win game. Both chains will fight for viewers. Start time is 2 pm ET.
FOX Sports, in particular, will be hoping for a USA win or draw to keep viewers glued to the final group stage game next week against Iran. With FOX Sports competing with the NFL, FOX needs the USA to go the distance to make the World Cup a ratings hit.
Never miss a single USMNT game with our World Cup TV schedule.
Telemundo has more options
During a video conference last week with US soccer media, World Soccer Talk asked Telemundo Deportes President Ray Warren about the advantages the Spanish-language broadcaster has compared to the challenges FOX Sports faces.
“Some of the FOX viewers are going to have to make decisions,” Warren said. “There is a lot of conflict in [FOX’s] schedule between college football and the NFL. They will have more games on FS1 this year than 2018 because of that. Case in point is Argentina versus Mexico, which will clash with Ohio State-Michigan, so we look forward to that day.
World Cup 2022 Guide
Here are some resources to help you make the most of the biggest event in soccer!
