Ratings Review: 2014 WORLD CUP

Every four years, the world's most popular sport, soccer, hold's its tournament to crown the best country team in the world. In 2014, the world, and America, tuned into Brazil for the 32 team contest.

Coverage in the USA was produced by ESPN Sports, with game airing on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. A large majority of the games were carried on the flagship network, ESPN, with weekend games on ABC.

Throughout the tournament, ESPN and ABC were breaking records with the coverage. with and without Team USA. The three pool play matches, involving the USA, averaged 11.4 million, with the Portugal game grabbing 13.8 million. The Round of 16 game of USA vs Belgium nearly matched the Portugal game, getting 13.4 million viewers.

Even game not involving Team USA did well. The Brazil vs Chili game drew 5.7 million viewers, on a weekend afternoon, on ABC. The entire Quarter Finals averaged just under five million viewers, for the four matches.

All-in all, ESPN got great numbers for a sport that most Americans never watch, the years between the World Cups. The 2018 tournament is set for Russia and will be covered by the FOX networks.

Date	Match	Net	Time	Viewers*	A18-49
06/12/14	Croatia vs Brazil	ESPN	3:30 PM	4.04	1.7
06/13/14	Mexico vs Cameroon	ESPN2	12:00 PM	1.89	0.9
06/13/14	Chile vs Australia	ESPN2	3:00 PM	2.53	1.3
06/13/14	Spain vs Netherlands	ESPN	5:00 PM	3.10	1.4
06/14/14	Columbia vs Greece	ABC	12:00 PM	3.29	1.3
06/14/14	Uruguay vs Costa Rica	ABC	3:00 PM	3.68	1.5
06/14/14	England vs Italy	ESPN	6:00 PM	4.11	1.8
06/14/14	Cote D'Iovorie vs Japan	ESPN	9:00 PM	3.45	1.4
06/15/14	Switzerland vs Ecuador	ABC	12:00 PM	3.65	1.3
06/15/14	France vs Honduras	ABC	3:00 PM	4.35	1.7
06/15/14	Argentina vs Bosnia/Herzegovia	ESPN	6:00 PM	4.20	1.9
06/16/14	Germany vs Portugal	ESPN	12:00 PM	2.37	1.0
06/16/14	Iran vs Nigeria	ESPN	3:00 PM	2.26	0.9
06/16/14	Ghana vs USA	ESPN	6:00 PM	9.72	4.1
06/17/14	Belgium vs Algeria	ESPN	12:00 PM	1.61	0.7
06/17/14	Brazil vs Mexico	ESPN	3:00 PM	3.85	1.5
06/17/14	Russia vs Korea Rep.	ESPN	6:00 PM	3.26	1.4
06/18/14	Australia vs Netherlands	ESPN	12:00 PM	2.29	0.9
06/18/14	Spain vs Chile	ESPN	3:00 PM	3.19	1.3
06/18/14	Cameroon vs Croatia	ESPN	6:00 PM	3.04	1.3
06/19/14	Columbia vs Cote D'Ivoire	ESPN	12:00 PM	1.78	0.7
06/19/14	Uruguay vs England	ESPN	3:00 PM	3.14	1.2
06/19/14	Japan vs Greece	ESPN	6:00 PM	3.17	1.3
06/20/14	Italy vs Costa Rica	ESPN	12:00 PM	2.43	1.0
06/20/14	Switzerland vs France	ESPN	3:00 PM	2.87	1.2
06/20/14	Honduras vs Ecuador	ESPN	6:00 PM	2.93	1.3
06/21/14	Argenina vs Iran	ESPN	12:00 PM	3.56	1.5
06/21/14	Germany vs Ghana	ESPN	3:00 PM	5.28	2.3
06/21/14	Nigeria vs Bosnia/Herzegovina	ESPN	6:00 PM	3.84	1.7
06/22/14	Belgium vs Russia	ABC	12:00 PM	3.82	1.5
06/22/14	Korea Republic vs Algeria	ABC	3:00 PM	4.93	2.0
06/22/14	USA vs Portugal	ESPN	6:00 PM	13.77	5.4
06/23/14	Netherlands vs Chile	ESPN	12:00 PM	1.65	0.7
06/23/14	Australia vs Spain	ESPN2	12:00 PM	0.55	0.2
06/23/14	Cameroon vs Brazil	ESPN2	4:00 PM	1.16	0.5
06/23/14	Croatia vs Mexico	ESPN	4:00 PM	2.29	0.9
06/24/14	Italy vs. Uruguay	ESPN	12:00 PM	1.96	0.8
06/24/14	Costa Rica vs. England	ESPN2	12:00 PM	0.68	0.3
06/24/14	Japan vs. Colombia	ESPN	4:00 PM	1.84	0.7
06/24/14	Greece vs. Ivory Coast	ESPN2	4:00 PM	1.11	0.5
06/25/14	Nigeria vs. Argentina	ESPN	12:00 PM	2.03	0.8
06/25/14	Bosnia/Herzegovina vs. Iran	ESPN2	12:00 PM	0.33	0.1
06/25/14	Ecuador vs. France	ESPN2	4:00 PM	2.43	0.9
06/25/14	Honduras vs. Switzerland	ESPN	4:00 PM	0.45	0.2
06/26/14	United States vs. Germany	ESPN	12:00 PM	10.77	3.0
06/26/14	Portugal vs. Ghana	ESPN2	12:00 PM	0.53	0.2
06/26/14	South Korea vs. Belgium	ESPN	4:00 PM	2.06	0.9
06/26/14	Algeria vs. Russia	ESPN2	4:00 PM	0.71	0.3
06/28/14	Brazil vs Chile	ABC	12:00 PM	5.67	2.3
06/28/14	Columbia vs Uruguay	ABC	4:00 PM	5.32	2.1
06/29/14	Netherlands vs Mexico	ESPN	12:00 PM	5.74	2.4
06/29/14	Costa Rica vs Greece	ESPN	4:00 PM	5.90	2.5
06/30/14	France vs Nigeria	ESPN	12:00 PM	2.53	1.0
06/30/14	Germany vs Algeria	ESPN	4:00 PM	4.31	1.7
07/01/14	Argentina vs Switzerland	ESPN	12:00 PM	3.17	1.2
07/01/14	Belgium vs USA	ESPN	4:00 PM	13.44	4.6
07/04/14	France vs Germany	ESPN2	12:00 PM	4.23	1.8
07/04/14	Brazil vs Columbia	ESPN	4:00 PM	5.68	2.2
07/05/14	Argentina vs Belgium	ABC	12:00 PM	4.59	1.7
07/05/14	Netherlands vs Costa Rica	ESPN	4:00 PM	5.26	2.0
07/08/14	Germany vs Brazil	ESPN	4:00 PM	5.11	1.9
07/09/14	Argentina vs Netherlands	ESPN	4:00 PM	5.51	2.0
07/12/14	Netherlands vs Brazil	ESPN	4:00 PM	4.22	1.5
07/13/14	Germany vs Argentina	ABC	3:00 PM	14.21	5.3

* - in millions

Pool Play: June 13 - 26
Round of 16: June 28 - July 1
Quarter Finals: July 4 & 5
Semi-Finals: July 7 & 8
Consolation Match: July 12
Championship Match: July 13