US-Portugal game scores viewership goal

The United States' 2-2 World Cup draw with Portugal was almost certainly the most-watched soccer game ever in the US, an emphatic confirmation of the sport's rising popularity in a country slower to embrace it than the rest of the world.

The Nielsen company said Sunday's gripping game was seen by an average of 24.7 million viewers on ESPN and Univision. That matches it with the 24.7 million US viewers who watched the 2010 World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands.

ESPN said an additional 490,000 people streamed coverage of the game on their mobile devices through the company's app. Streaming numbers for 2010 were not immediately available, but it is very unlikely they were that high because streaming apps were not as sophisticated then.

Many factors were in place to make it so popular: It was an exciting game, interest in the US team was high because of the first-game victory against Ghana and World Cup viewing in general has been high. The Sunday evening time slot also meant many Americans were available to watch.

"It indicates that a large group in our audience is really following the story of the World Cup, which is really terrific," said Scott Guglielmino, ESPN senior vice-president of programming.

Guglielmino said he is always amused to be asked when soccer will arrive as an attraction in the US. He is not likely to be asked much anymore.

American players sense the support back home, as well as in stadiums in Brazil, and appreciate it. Viewing parties have pulled thousands of people into bars, public parks, movie theaters and other locations since the tournament began.

"When we get back to the hotel and we hear about Grant Park in Chicago having 10,000 fans out to watch the game and friends and family are sending pictures and videos of what's going on, it can't help but push you on because we want to make every person watching back home proud of us and proud to watch our team," said midfielder Michael Bradley.

The game has continued to grow steadily ever since the US hosted the World Cup in 1994. "People know our players, people know what's going on, people get excited to watch the games and to support their team, their country," Bradley said. "I think as players we can't ask for anything more."

Alejandro Bedoya said he checks social media to see the attention the team is getting.

"It's awesome to see this and we are part of this movement I guess that is growing soccer in the States," said Bedoya, a midfielder. "It's really cool and I'm sure everybody feeds off this energy and it's really nice to see."

Through 32 matches, World Cup games have averaged 4.3 million viewers on ESPN. That is up 50 percent from the nearly 2.9 million for matches in the 2010 World Cup. Sunday's match was the most-watched event ever on ESPN that did not involve American football.

Interest is also growing fast on Spanish-language Univision, where soccer has long been the top sport. The 6.5 million people who watched the US-Portugal match represented the biggest audience ever for a US match on the network. Overall, Univision said an average of 3.4 million watched the World Cup on the network through the first 32 matches, up from 2.3 million in 2010.

For many people with Latin-American roots used to following their home country's matches on Univision, the US has become their second-favorite team, said Juan Carlos Ramirez, president of Univision Sports.

Both networks invested in driving up interest in the World Cup, since big ratings translate into big profits. ESPN spent time telecasting qualifying games for the tournament and has benefited from the new attention paid to European soccer leagues. Univision started as a 24-hour sports network with soccer the major topic of conversation.

Worldwide, several World Cup games have already qualified as the most-watched sporting events in their respective countries this year. They include the 42.9 million people in Brazil who watched the home team against Croatia, the 34.1 million in Japan who saw Japan play Cote d'Ivoire and the 26.4 million in Germany who saw the home team beat Portugal.

Social media site Facebook, through one week, saw more people having interactions about the tournament than it had for the Sochi Olympics, Super Bowl and Academy Awards combined.

Twitter has not released overall figures on World Cup activity, but said the two games that generated the most activity on its site involved Brazil. The game with Croatia resulted in 12.2 million tweets, and the match with Mexico made for 8.95 million.

The last-minute goal by Portugal on Sunday may have disappointed US fans, but not television executives. It means Thursday's US match against Germany is likely to decide whether the team advances. Because it will air during the daytime, it is not likely to match television ratings for the Portugal game.