By Paul Kennedy
The overnight rating for Sunday’s USA-Panama Gold Cup final on FOX was 1.7 — the highest overnight rating for a soccer match in2013 on any network and FOX’s second-highest overnight rating ever for a soccer match. It was also higher than the ratings for weekend Major League Baseball games on FOX and ESPN (1.6).
The solid ratings reflected the growing interest in the U.S. national team among U.S. fans as it ran off 11 straight wins and played some of its best soccer in recent memory.
Overnightratings represent the percentage of all households with televisions tuned in in Nielsen’s survey of the top 56 U.S. metered markets.
Soccer ratings tend to fall as the final ratingsaccount for all markets, taking in smaller, more rural markets where soccer is less popular.
The previous soccer highs for the year were a 1.6 for Mexico-USA (World Cup qualifying) inMarch and 1.5 for Brazil-Spain (Confederations Cup final) in June, both on ESPN.
Only the Canadian Open golf tournament with a 1.8 rating on CBS had a higher overnight this pastweekend.
The only soccer game to have a higher overnight rating on FOX was the Barcelona-Manchester United UEFA Champions League final, which had a 1.8 rating in 2011.
FOXaired three matches at the Gold Cup. The USA-El Salvador quarterfinal drew a 1.2 overnight rating and the USA-Cuba group match earned a 0.7 overnight rating.
The overnight ratings for thethree Gold Cup matches compare favorably to those of recent live soccer matches on FOX. The Bayern Munich-Dortmund UEFA Champions League final drew a 1.0 overnight rating (0.9 final rating) andWigan-Manchester City FA Cup final drew a 0.5 overnight rating.
NBC UNVEILS EPL SCHEDULE. NBC Sports Group released the English Premier Leagueschedule for the first three months of the season.
It gives fans an idea of the extent of the coverage: a total of 69 Premier League matches – at least five games each week in theseason’s first three months – will be presented on NBC, NBC Sports Network and CNBC.
NBC will air matches each Saturday for the first three weeks of the season, beginning withSwansea City-Manchester United on the opening day of the season.
Televised EPL Matches (Aug. 17-Dec. 1)
57 NBC Sports Network
10 NBC
2 CNBC
61 PremierLeague Extra Time
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27 Telemundo/mun2 (Spanish-language)
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LA VOLPE JOINS ESPN DEPORTES. The former Mexico national team coach
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Jurgen Klinsmann is correct. Soccer has arrived in the USA. Praise God! Finally!