Overnight viewing figures for the World Cup opening game between Brazil and Croatia scored impressive numbers last night.

In New York City, the country’s biggest TV market, the World Cup (on ESPN and Univision) posted the same 18 share as the NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat. The World Cup game measured a 5.1 rating/11 share on ESPN and a 3.0/7 on Univision, according to reporter John Ourand at Sports Business Daily.

Meanwhile, ESPN is reporting that the opening mach averaged a 3.2 overnight rating, which saw a 52% increase compared to the World Cup 2010 opener (2.1 overnight rating).

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