The USMNT’s premature exit from the Copa America tournament last week has not weighed heavily on viewership across Fox and Univision.
Through the quarterfinals, Copa America is averaging 1.17 million viewers across Fox, FS1 and FS2 (28 matches), which is up 45% compared to the 2016 tournament through the quarterfinals (807,000 viewers across Fox, FS1, FX, and FS2 — 28 matches). That 2016 event was also held in the U.S., with the USMNT making the semis.
“I said before the coverage started that this tournament would be by far the No. 1 Spanish language telecast of the year, and we have proven it to be,” said Olek Loewenstein, Univision’s global president of sports.
Through the 26th match, TelevisaUnivision is averaging 1.5 million viewers.
“I don’t like to compare versus the competition, because it’s kind of unfair at this point,” said Loewenstein. “Our expectations were big, and we surpassed them. We’re even beating the 2021 tournament in a world where we’ve seen some ratings erosion, and that’s a magnificent success.”
Univision is capitalizing on the growing popularity of soccer in the U.S., especially heading into the 2026 World Cup.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Copa America ratings, on average, are better than the [2026] World Cup ratings,” said Loewenstein, pointing to 32 Copa games being more relevant to a Hispanic audience versus 104 World Cup games where “a lot will not be relevant at all” to that demo.
Loewenstein believes in that bold statement because of a “diaspora” of fans for Copa in the U.S. from Peru, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Ecuador. “If you look at the World Cup, you’re going to have 104 games for the first time ever. I doubt that teams from Asia and Africa and Eastern Europe that are not as relevant to our audience,” he said.
“The audience in the U.S. is becoming more refined when it comes to consuming [soccer], and I think that it’s proven in terms of how the ratings are performing in different teams, other than Mexico and the U.S.,” said Loewenstein. “In the past, you would see how ratings for Mexican and the U.S. were the anchor of a tournament.”
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