The television ratings are out for the championship final of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and more Americans watched the final of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup between the United States and the Netherlands than the final of the 2018 FIFA Men’s World Cup between France and Croatia. According to Stephen Battaglio of the Los Angeles Times, 15.6 million Americans watched the United States beat the Netherlands 2-0 in Lyon, France on Sunday, while only 12.4 million Americans watched France beat Croatia 4-2 in the 2018 FIFA Men’s World Cup championship final from Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia last year.
On Sunday, the United States got second half goals from Megan Rapinoe of Redding, CA and Rose Lavelle of Cincinnati, OH in their 2-0 victory over the defending European champions, the Netherlands. It was the United States’s fourth Women’s World Cup title as they also won in 1991, 1999 and 2015.
However it should be noted that more Americans watched the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup final between the United States and Japan from BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada than the 2019 final. There were 25.4 million viewers four years ago.
The decrease of nearly 10 million viewers could be disconcerting to those trying to promote women’s soccer in the United States. However one must realize in today’s world of communication, soccer fans are using other mediums other than just television to get their soccer fix. It would be interesting to analyze all the viewership ratings (television and online) before coming to complete judgments.
It would also be interesting to see what the television ratings would have been for the 2018 Men’s World Cup if the United States had been in the final. Do not forget the United States did not even qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia after losing 2-1 to Trinidad and Tobago in CONCACAF qualifying in 2017. The mere fact that 12.4 million Americans watched the World Cup Men’s Final in a tournament that the United States were not even a participant, was probably decent.
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