Austin led all markets for yesterday’s U.S.-Spain broadcast with a 4.7 local ratingGETTY IMAGES
FS1 yesterday drew a 2.5 overnight for the USWNT’s win over Spain in the Women's World Cup Round of 16 that aired in the early afternoon on the East Coast and in the late morning on the West Coast. That figure is down 24% from what FS1 drew four years ago for U.S.-Colombia in the Round of 16, but that match was in primetime. Austin led all markets for yesterday’s broadcast with a 4.7 local rating, followed by Richmond and San Diego each at a 4.2 rating. Following U.S.-Spain, FS1 drew a 1.3 overnight for Canada-Sweden. Through three days of coverage of the Round of 16, Fox/FS1/FS2 are averaging a 0.9 overnight for matches, up from a 0.8 at the same point four years ago. Meanwhile, yesterday's game drew an average minute audience of 204,000 viewers on Fox Sports digital platforms, marking a new streaming record for a WWC match. The previous record was 142,000 for U.S.-Sweden in this year's group stage (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
KEEP WITH THE CHANGING TIMES: Fox Sports Exec VP/Marketing Robert Gottlieb said that the conversation around the marketing and promotion of this year's Women's World Cup was "different than the first time Fox held the tournament's rights" in '15, and "much different than any conversations about soccer the company had in the past." Gottlieb: "Seven, eight years ago, it was a different conversation, maybe had to convince people, people ignored it. But now, if someone dismisses soccer, they really look out of touch." Gottlieb would not disclose the marketing budget for the '19 WWC, but said it is "a lot" (PROSOCCERUSA.com, 6/23).
