Fox drew 6.43 million viewers to watch Spain's Euro win on Sunday, making it the biggest Euro final in British television history and Fox's biggest ever non-World Cup soccer match.Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images
Both the Euros (UEFA) and Copa America (CONMEBOL) tournaments generated record numbers for English-speaking soccer viewership on Fox Sports this summer, capped by the finals of both events airing on Fox on Sunday amid stiff headwinds from tournament coverage and the continued rise in cable news surrounding the attempted shooting of Donald Trump (including the Euros' head-to-head with the Republican National Convention on Sunday night).
On Sunday afternoon, Fox drew 6.43 million viewers for the Spain vs. England match, making it the highest-ever Euro final for UK TV and the highest-ever viewership for a non-World Cup soccer match for Fox (Spain vs. England was up 6% from ESPN's Italy vs. England in 2021 (6.07 million viewers)). Looking only at kick-off to end of the match, Fox's Spain vs. England viewership jumped to 7.17 million, up from 6.49 million for Italy vs. England in 2021. The top markets for the Euro final were San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, followed by Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. This year's Euros also drew record English language viewership for the semi-finals, quarter-finals, round of 16 and group stage. The average viewership for the entire tournament was 1.68 million on Fox and FS1, up 34% from 2021. It was the highest-ever Euro for English language TV with ESPN/ABC/ESPN2 (1.25 million).
On Sunday night, Argentina vs. Colombia, whose kickoff was delayed by about an hour due to security issues with fans entering the Hard Rock Stadium, drew 6.02 million viewers on Fox, the highest audience ever for a Copa America final on English-language television in the United States (and the second-best audience ever for a non-World Cup soccer match on Fox). This figure does not include the 864,000 viewers who simulcast the first half on FS1. The match peaked with 7.07 million viewers in the 15 minutes beginning at 10:45 pm Eastern. Miami vs. Fort Lauderdale led all markets for Argentina vs. Colombia on Fox, followed by West Palm Beach and San Diego. In addition to the record-breaking final, Copa America also had the highest audiences ever for the semifinals, quarterfinals and group stage in English (despite the US not making the knockout stage this year). This year's Copa America averaged 1.42 million viewers across FOX, FS1 and FS2, up 44% from 2016 (the last year the tournament was played in the U.S.) and the highest audience ever for English-language television. The 2021 tournament, which did not feature the U.S. men's national team at all, averaged just 309,000 viewers.
