Hate ’em or love ’em, the girls are delivering power numbers.
Already back-to-back World Cup champions, the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) is on the hunt for a third consecutive title — and a ton of people want to see it.
The team’s tournament opener Friday night against Vietnam brought in massive television ratings, with it being one of the most-viewed Women’s World Cup group stage games of all-time on English-language television, according to FOX Sports.
Throughout the contest, the team attracted a little over 5.2 million viewers on average, making it the second-highest watched group stage contest in Women’s World Cup history.
The only game to exceed those figures was when the USWNT took on Chile in 2019, with the Americans securing a 3-0 victory to punch their tickets to the Round of 16.
Between 10:45 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., viewership peaked at 6,552,000.
The @USWNT‘s 3-0 Women’s World Cup win over Vietnam scored 5,261,000 viewers, making it the second-most watched Group Stage telecast ever on English language television ⚽️
⛰️Match peaked at more than 6.5 million viewers
🇺🇸 Next – Wed., July 26 vs. Netherlands (9:00 PM ET/FOX) pic.twitter.com/ey0tABFb6k
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) July 22, 2023
I have to give the ladies some credit here. These numbers are impressive.
When I saw a lot of people saying they weren’t going to watch and weren’t interested, I personally didn’t know what to expect (and, no, I didn’t watch the game myself because I was out with my family Friday night), so it wouldn’t have surprised me to see low numbers.
It wouldn’t have surprised me to see high numbers either, but this? Nearly record-breaking?
Yeah, I admit, I was a bit stunned. (RELATED: Joel Embiid Ties The Knot With Sports Illustrated Model Girlfriend Anne De Paula)
Despite the amount of boycotts and backlash the USWNT is getting slammed with, they managed to put up some golden ratings. I gotta give ’em some props. Personally, I don’t hate USWNT (though I do find Megan Rapinoe a bit annoying), and I hope they bring the trophy back home to America (again), but that’s just me.
And with that being said … congrats, ladies! Let’s just stop being so political now.