After the first week of Copa America Centenario matches, the TV ratings show a clear winner in the United States with Univision averaging 2.8 million viewers per game compared to FOX Sports, which is averaging 831,100 viewers per game on FOX Sports 1 (and an average of 716,417 when combined with FOX Sports 2 ratings).
It’s no surprise that Univision is leading the pack given that the tournament features mostly Latin teams that are more appealing to a Spanish-language audience. Plus, Univision has the advantage of featuring more games on its over-the-air network while FOX Sports has preferred to feature most of the games on FOX Sports 1 (presumably in an attempt to boost the network’s fledgling TV ratings).
Also, not surprisingly, Mexico is leading the way with larger viewing audiences (and attendances) at games played thus far. In fact, more people are watching USA games on Univision than they are on FOX Sports 1, which is quite telling.
For Univision, the Copa America Centenario tournament to-date has reached 30.7 million total viewers, outperforming 2014 World Cup Group Stage among total viewers. Plus, the Mexico-Jamaica telecast out-delivered all four NHL Stanley Cup Finals matches to-date on NBC and NBC Sports Network among all key demos. Additionally, the telecast outperformed all MLB matches across all networks for the 2016 season-to-date.
SEE MORE: Schedule of Copa America games on US TV and live streaming
Here are the most-watched Copa America Centenario games on US television for the first week of the tournament:
| Pos. | Teams | No. of viewers | TV Network | Game time (ET) | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico vs. Jamaica | 5,400,000 | Univision & Univision Deportes | 10pm-Midnight | Thurs., June 9 |
| 2 | Mexico vs. Uruguay | 5,100,000 | Univision & Univision Deportes | 8-10pm | Sun., June 5 |
| 3 | USA vs. Colombia | 3,900,000 | Univision, Univision Deportes & UniMas | 9:30-11:30pm | Fri., June 3 |
| 4 | Argentina vs. Chile | 2,900,000 | UniMas & Univision Deportes | 10pm-Midnight | Mon., June 6 |
| 5 | Colombia vs. Paraguay | 2,800,000 | UniMas & Univision Deportes | 10:30pm-12:30am | Tues., June 7 |
| 6 | USA vs. Costa Rica | 2,500,000 | UniMas & Univision Deportes | 8-10pm | Tues., June 7 |
| 7 | Ecuador vs. Peru | 2,400,000 | UniMas & Univision Deportes | 10pm-Midnight | Wed., June 8 |
| 8 | Argentina vs. Panama | 2,200,000 | UniMas & Univision Deportes | 9:30-11:30pm | Fri., June 10 |
| 9 | Uruguay vs. Venezuela | 2,100,000 | UniMas & Univision Deportes | 7:30-9:30pm | Thurs., June 9 |
| 10 | Brazil vs. Haiti | 1,900,000 | UniMas & Univision Deportes | 7:30-9:30pm | Wed., June 8 |
| 11 | Jamaica vs. Venezuela | 1,900,000 | Univision & Univision Deportes | 5-7pm | Sun., June 5 |
| 12 | USA vs. Costa Rica | 1,600,000 | FOX Sports 1 | 8-10pm | Tues., June 7 |
| 13 | USA vs. Colombia | 1,536,000 | FOX Sports 1 | 9:30-11:30pm | Fri., June 3 |
| 14 | Chile vs. Bolivia | 1,400,000 | UniMas & Univision Deportes | 7-9pm | Fri., June 10 |
| 15 | Panama vs. Bolivia | 1,200,000 | UniMas & Univision Deportes | 7-9pm | Mon., June 6 |
| 16 | Brazil vs. Ecuador | 883,000 | Univision Deportes | 9:30-11:30pm | Sat., June 4 |
| 17 | Argentina vs. Chile | 862,000 | FOX Sports 1 | 10pm-Midnight | Mon., June 6 |
| 18 | Mexico vs. Jamaica | 779,000 | FOX Sports 1 | 10pm-Midnight | Thurs., June 9 |
| 19 | Colombia vs. Paraguay | 739,000 | FOX Sports 1 | 10:30pm-12:30am | Tues., June 7 |
| 20 | Brazil vs. Haiti | 624,000 | FOX Sports 1 | 7:30-9:30pm | Wed., June 8 |
| 21 | Mexico vs. Uruguay | 619,000 | FOX Sports 1 | 8-10pm | Sun., June 5 |
| 22 | Haiti vs. Peru | 613,000 | Univision Deportes | 7:30-9:30pm | Sat., June 4 |
| 23 | Brazil vs. Ecuador | 598,000 | FOX Sports 1 | 9:30-11:30pm | Sat., June 4 |
| 24 | Uruguay vs. Venezuela | 589,000 | FOX Sports 1 | 7:30-9:30pm | Thurs., June 9 |
| 25 | Costa Rica vs. Paraguay | 516,000 | Univision Deportes | 5-7pm | Sat., June 4 |
| 26 | Panama vs. Bolivia | 365,000 | FOX Sports 1 | 7-9pm | Mon., June 6 |
| 27 | Ecuador vs. Peru | 148,000 | FOX Sports 2 | 10pm-Midnight | Wed., June 8 |
| 28 | Haiti vs. Peru | 138,000 | FOX Sports 2 | 7:30-9:30pm | Sat., June 4 |
| 29 | Costa Rica vs. Paraguay | Not available | FOX | 5-7pm | Sat., June 4 |
| 30 | Jamaica vs. Venezuela | Not available | FOX | 5-7pm | Sun., June 5 |
Univision is really the Televisa of the United States. Gets the better rating despite their coverage being awful. That’s exactly what Televisa does in Mexico. Televisa also censors their commentators just like Univision. José Luis Chilavert was removed from the Univision Copa America coverage because of his comments towards the Paraguayan football federation and it’s president. Just another example on how Univision doesn’t let their on air talent say everything they want without consequences.
Here in New York, I’ve noticed that whenever bars show the games, they generally are showing Univision instead of FS1. Not exactly sure why that is (maybe Univision is easier to find?).
Generally, the Univision picture quality is better. Plus Univision’s live signal is 5 seconds ahead of FOX Sports. Not sure if those are the reasons why more bars are showing those games, but I also like your suggestion that Univision is easier to find.
It doesn’t help that Fox usually relegates the later match to non HD Fs2.
Did not appreciate the fact that the Univision commentators talked throughout the U.S. national anthem but were silent during the anthems of Brasil and Peru. I am of hispanic heritage and believe they should have shown more respect.
Fox sport is not basic Channel… for some reason univision is part od the basic cable package while fox sport 1 is not…. if they put US national team on regular fox channel ratings would be higher…. it looks like Fox wants to make games part of the premium package. that’s why I don’t watch copa America even though I am massive football/soccer fan. fox is horrible. In the other hand would love to see Euro 2016 ratings, even though game times are 9am, 12pm and 3pm.
this comparison doesn’t make any sense. in my opinion is not an apples to apples resemblance. you are comparing a broadcast network which is available in more homes vs. a cable network with fewer homes. also univision is adding the viewers of their sister networks to their average so its bigger.
You’re perfectly correct. It’s not apples to apples. A better apples-to-apples comparison is to look at Copa America TV ratings on FS1/FS2 and comparing them to ESPN/ESPN2 for Euro 2016. You can find that at http://worldsoccertalk.com/2016/06/14/espn-leads-fox-sports-viewers-euro-2016-copa-america/
This is a textbook example of cherry picking data to make a point.
The Copa America has two providers in the USA; Fox and Univision. Univision averages over 2 million viewers per game and is available in a heck of a lot more homes than FS1. So around 3 million people watch each game in average in the USA. ESPN shares coverage with no one and can’t even get to 1 million.
Viewership would probably be at least 150% higher but probably closer to 200% if Fox got exclusive rights to the entire USA.
Fox really wanted this tournament for branding FS1 as a Soccer outlet leading to the WC2018 and 2022. Fox could have made the US games available on the big Fox. You can also see that the final of Copa America is on FS1. You would have thought that Fox will carry that match. The US men’s games would have been 30-40% higher if on big Fox.
Univision is probably getting about 15-20% of non-speaking viewers watching the games on their platforms.