http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/ratings-usa-belgium-sets-world-cup-record-for-espn-1201256993/Tuesday’s USA-Belgium match averaged 16.49 million viewers on ESPN, according to updated in-home viewing estimates by Nielsen — making it the second most-watched men’s World Cup telecast ever in the States, behind only USA-Portugal last month (18.2 million). Viewership peaked with 19.54 million in the extra-time session. Of course, the estimate doesn’t include millions of viewers watching in sports bars or at the office on a Tuesday afternoon.
Combined with the 5.1 million who watched on Univision, Tuesday’s match drew 21.6 million viewers; the previous high for a men’s soccer match was the 24.7 million for USA-Portugal, which included 6.5 million viewers on Univision.
For the World Cup through the Round of 16, ESPN and ABC averaged 4.08 million viewers — a record audience for the tournament, up 44% from 2010 (2.84 million) and 122% from 2006 (1.84 million).
Neljän vuoden päästä ei taideta ihan samanlaisiin lukuihin päästä koska Venäjän aikavyöhykkeet eivät ole Pohjois-Amerikalle ystävällisiä.