Mon | Jan 6, 2025

Time difference hurts Women’s World Cup

Published:Sunday | August 6, 2023 | 12:09 AM
United States’ Alex Morga (centre) reacts after missing a shot during the second half of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Group E football match against Portugal and the United States at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand on Tuesday, August 1.
AP
United States’ Alex Morga (centre) reacts after missing a shot during the second half of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Group E football match against Portugal and the United States at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand on Tuesday, August 1.

WHILE THE viewing numbers of the Women’s World Cup have been good whenever the United States (US) plays, the same isn’t true for any of the other teams this tournament.

The struggles have been put down to the time difference in Australia and New Zealand.

Through 46 matches, the tournament is averaging 610,000 viewers on Fox and FS1, a 37 per cent decrease from 2019 (968,000).

The Spanish-language average of 135,000 across Telemundo, Peacock, Universo and Telemundo streaming platforms is down 30 per cent from four years ago (194,000).

When compared to when the US plays, the difference is stark.

The Americans three group stage matches at the Women’s World Cup had an average combined English- and Spanish-language audience of 5,256,000.

Trying to replicate that over the next four matches will be a difficult task.

With its second-place finish in Group E, the remaining US matches will take place overnight. Had the Americans won the group, its round of 16 and quarterfinal matches would have been in prime time.

Australia and New Zealand are 14-16 hours ahead of New York and 17-19 hours ahead of Los Angeles.

The July 21 match against Vietnam (6.26 million) and July 26 vs. the Netherlands (7.93 million) were both in prime time and drew the two largest combined audiences for a group stage match involving the American women.

The July 31 draw against Portugal, which took place at 3 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) was 1,560,000.

Sunday’s match against Sweden begins at 5 a.m. EDT. Should the US advance, the August 11 match against Japan would take place at 3:30 a.m. EDT.

The August 15 semifinals are at 4 a.m. EDT and the August 20 final will start at 6 a.m. EDT.

Jamaica is one hour behind the above times.

Despite one of the matches taking place overnight, the overall US group stage ratings increased.

Fox’s average of 4,345,000 was an 11 per cent increase over four years ago, when the tournament took place in France.

The Spanish-language average of 911,000 is up 57 per cent compared to 2019. Telemundo and Adobe Analytics found that streaming accounted for 40 per cent of the viewership.