LOS ANGELES—With the FIFA Women’s World Cup getting ready to wrap up, new research from Ampere Analysis highlights the growing popularity of soccer in America, with nearly 20% of U.S. sports fans now claiming it is their favorite sport and broadcasters tripling their spending on soccer rights since 2015.
The Ampere survey found that soccer is the fourth most popular American sport, a figure that has grown rapidly from the last quarter of 2021. The US boasts a high proportion of avid female soccer fans (37%), compared to 31% among the big five Western European markets.
Taken together, these findings bode well for Major League Soccer (MLS), with Lionel Messi having recently joined Inter Miami.
They also help explain record viewing data from Nielsen for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, now getting ready for the finals on August 20 between Spain and England.
Spanish-language coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup on Telemundo and Peacock has been particularly successful.
The August 10 quarterfinal match between Spain v. Netherlands averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 968,000 viewers across Telemundo, Peacock, Universo and Telemundo streaming platforms, making it the most watched Women’s World Cup Quarterfinal match in Spanish-language history surpassing the 2019 Netherlands quarterfinal by 205 percent. NBCUniversal has also been reporting that total minutes consumed to-date surpassed 1.3 billion across Telemundo, Universo, TeleXitos, Peacock, and the Telemundo App.
Earlier the USA v. Netherlands averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 1.51 million viewers across Telemundo, Peacock, Universo and Telemundo streaming platforms, according to Nielsen.
“Understanding the consumption habits of US soccer fans is crucial for the broadcasters who want to curate and build appealing content around this behavior,” said Sam Nursall, research analyst at Ampere in a new report discussing how broadcasters can monetize the growing interest in soccer. “There’s a really strong opportunity here to combine the best of traditional broadcast with the capabilities of streaming services and social media to meet the appetite of these passionate fans. Ampere also believes that the challenges of piracy to avoid paying fees can be addressed through multi-league bundles to bring soccer fans all the content they can consume.”
One major opportunity regarding the soccer fan base is their relative affluence. Ampere found that US soccer fans are 43% more likely than average sports fans to have a household income of more than $100,000, making this affluent audience a key target for broadcasters and rights holders
Crucially, the fanbase is passionate and willing to pay to indulge in their love of the beautiful game. Almost three-quarters (73%) of US-based fans of the Premier League and UEFA Champions League say they will pay to watch the competitions
Ampere also reported that networks in the US are also increasing their spending on soccer rights. In 2022, soccer broadcasting rights in the US were worth over $1.3bn – three times more than in 2015, according to Ampere.
Currently, interest in soccer competitions is dominated by global and European events, the report found.
American fans most enjoy the FIFA World Cup (33%), the English Premier League (31%), and the UEFA Champions League (30%), with only 20% claiming to follow the MLS
But the MLS will be hoping to boost this rising interest. Alongside the global Apple TV deal signed in 2022, the League has welcomed Lionel Messi to Inter Miami, making the competition more appealing to those who prefer to watch top-tier players, the report said.
Ampere researchers stressed, however, that creating the right digital strategy will be vital to meet the viewing needs of American soccer fans
US soccer fans pay for more SVoD services than average and prefer to watch sports on streaming instead of broadcast TV
Awkward kick-off times for the top European leagues mean they view comparatively less live sport than other US fan groups. As a result, they have high engagement rates with highlights and player content on social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube where they already have strong consumption rates, the reserchers said.
According to Ampere’s findings, nearly half of US soccer fans say they only want to watch the sport via an online streaming platform. More than half (54%) say they are most likely to view on a second home at home rather than the main TV set
