Almost 10 million viewers watched the English and Spanish-language coverage of both the US team’s first round match against Italy on June 17 and Mexico’s match against Argentina on June 24. Overall, viewership is up over 100 per cent on ABC and around 80 per cent on the two ESPN channels from the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
Industry experts say the ratings are in part down to the massive effort ESPN has made in promoting and covering the event. ESPN has further upped its commitment to football, signing a deal worth $100 million for the television rights for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups and the 2007 and 2011 Women’s World Cups. It is also set to sign a new deal for Major League Soccer, the top US league, and is expected to pay about $7.5 million a year for the rights, the league’s first ever rights fee.
