US World Cup opener viewership in primetime doubles from 2019

AUCKLAND : Average viewership for the United States' Women's World Cup opener against Vietnam nearly doubled from their kick-off match in 2019, broadcaster Fox said on Sunday, as a primetime time slot helped yield 5.261 million viewers.

The Americans got their bid for an unprecedented three-peat off to a comfortable start as they beat World Cup newcomers Vietnam 3-0 in Auckland on Saturday, with the match peaking at 6.552 million watchers for the English-language broadcast.

That was a 99 per cent increase from the 2.649 million who tuned in for their 13-0 rout to open their 2019 campaign, when the match was aired mid-day on the U.S. East Coast.

The numbers were up 59 per cent from their 2015 equivalent match, Fox said, when the Americans kicked off against Australia in Canada around 7 p.m. on the East Coast. That match was aired on Fox's FS1 channel.

While this year's primetime time slot offered a clear advantage over 2019, the match competed domestically for attention with Lionel Messi's highly anticipated Major League Soccer debut.

Messi, perhaps the biggest star to sign with the top-flight North American league since David Beckham 16 years ago, scored a stoppage-time victory in front of a star-studded crowd for the match, which kicked off about an hour before the U.S. team.