The viewership figures for the 2023 Women’s World Cup games featuring the United States in St. Louis convey a mixed message, much like many things in life.
Among English-language television ratings across the country, the Gateway City secured the 12th spot for the Americans’ opening match and climbed to the seventh position for their subsequent game. Kansas City topped the list for the first game, while Milwaukee took the lead for the second.
According to Nielsen, the opener, a convincing 3-0 win against Vietnam on Friday, July 21, attracted 3.3% of the market audience. The figures improved for Game 2, a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands on Wednesday, reaching 4.3%.
On the bright side, the local viewership numbers significantly improved compared to the last Women’s World Cup in 2019, where St. Louis ranked 26th nationally in ratings for the Americans’ games. Nevertheless, it needs to improve the impressive performance the market showcased during the 2015 tournament, which led the nation in ratings for the U.S. matches.
Nationally, Wednesday’s game garnered the most significant American audience ever recorded for a Women’s World Cup group stage match on an English-language channel, drawing in 6.43 million viewers on Fox. The previous record was 5.34 million viewers for the Americans’ game against Chile in 2019. It’s worth noting that this year’s figure is boosted by Nielsen’s inclusion of out-of-home viewing for the first time in a Women’s World Cup tournament. The U.S. opener this year attracted 5.26 million viewers.
However, it is anticipated that the viewership for the Americans’ next contest, their final group-stage match against Portugal on Tuesday, will significantly drop. The game is scheduled to begin at 2 a.m. CT, which translates to 7 p.m. in Auckland, New Zealand, where the game will take place.