In a telling weekend for the global sports landscape, a fierce battle for viewership unfolded, not on a pitch but across television screens. The results offered a compelling narrative about the rising power of women's sports and raised significant questions about the appeal of even the most star-studded men's competitions. England's commanding 6-1 victory over Wales in the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 group stage decisively captured the UK audience, more than doubling the viewership for the men's FIFA Club World Cup final. This ratings showdown provides a crucial data point for understanding the evolving tastes of modern sports fans and where the Club World Cup truly stands in a crowded market.
A Tale of Two Tournaments
On the evening of July 13th, two major soccer events went head-to-head with revealing results that painted a vivid picture of the modern sports media environment. The UEFA Women's Euro 2025 match, a high-stakes home nations clash between England and Wales, was a resounding success for UK broadcaster ITV. The match was more than just a game; it was a national event, brimming with the kind of authentic rivalry and patriotic fervor that captivates a nation. The Lionesses, playing on home soil, delivered a spectacular performance, resulting in a 6-1 victory that drew an impressive average of 4.2 million viewers and peaked at 4.6 million. This figure is particularly noteworthy as it was driven almost entirely by a single market, demonstrating the immense domestic appeal of the team and the tournament. The broadcast gave ITV its strongest Sunday night performance of the year, proving that when presented on a major, accessible channel, women's international soccer is a ratings juggernaut.
In stark contrast, the newly expanded FIFA Club World Cup final struggled to gain equivalent traction, despite its billing as a global showcase. The match featured a top English club, Chelsea, securing a comfortable 3-0 victory over French powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain. However, the final averaged just 1.1 million viewers on the UK's Channel 5, peaking at 2.3 million. In the United States, a crucial market for soccer's growth, the final on TBS garnered a modest 1.3 million viewers. While not insignificant, these numbers fell far short of expectations for a tournament FIFA has heavily promoted. The scheduling, which placed it in direct competition with the Euros, and its perceived lack of history and prestige, meant it failed to create a "can't-miss" atmosphere. The figures suggest the tournament has yet to establish a clear identity or resonate deeply with a broad audience, even when local teams are successful.
Putting the Numbers in Perspective: The U.S. Market
To accurately gauge the Club World Cup's performance, it's essential to look at its direct competitors in the sports media landscape. The focus on U.S. viewership is particularly critical. With the FIFA World Cup returning to North America in 2026, every major soccer broadcast serves as a barometer for the sport's health and growth potential in a market it has long sought to conquer. Understanding how a FIFA-branded tournament fares against established American sports provides vital insight into the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
With a U.S. audience of 1.3 million, the Club World Cup final finds itself in a very competitive and crowded tier:
Major League Baseball (MLB): The Club World Cup final's viewership is comparable to high-profile regular-season MLB games. For the 2025 season, ESPN's MLB coverage has seen significant growth, averaging 1.74 million viewers per game, placing it slightly ahead of the FIFA final. This indicates that a premier, non-playoff baseball game can attract a similar, if not larger, audience (Source: MLB.com).
Premier League (in the U.S.): The English Premier League has firmly established itself as the most-watched soccer league in the United States. For the 2024/25 season, NBC Sports recorded an average Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 510,000 viewers per match window. While this average is lower than the Club World Cup final, marquee matchups tell a different story. The season's most-watched game, Manchester City vs. Chelsea, drew 1.8 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, again surpassing the Club World Cup's numbers (Source: SportsPro).
Major League Soccer (MLS): The viewership for MLS provides a fascinating, if complex, comparison. The 2024 MLS Cup final saw a significant drop in its linear TV audience, averaging just 468,000 viewers on Fox and Fox Deportes. This is well below the Club World Cup's numbers. However, this figure doesn't include the streaming audience on Apple TV's MLS Season Pass, for which data is not public. It is worth noting that the 2022 MLS Cup final, before the Apple deal, drew a much healthier 2.155 million viewers in the U.S. (Source: The Athletic).
National Hockey League (NHL): The NHL's regular-season national broadcasts often fall into a similar viewership range. Across the 2024-25 season, games on ESPN and TNT averaged around 440,000 viewers, a figure lower than the Club World Cup final. However, marquee events like the Stadium Series can perform much better, with the Red Wings-Blue Jackets game in March 2025 pulling in 1.59 million viewers on ESPN, making it a strong competitor (Source: Sports Business Journal).
Successes, Failures, and the Road to 2026
Successes: The primary success story remains the undeniable growth of international women's soccer. The Women's Euros demonstrated that with compelling storylines, national pride, and primetime broadcast slots, the audience is massive and engaged. For the Lionesses to draw such a large domestic audience against a men's club final is a monumental achievement.
Failures: The Club World Cup's ratings, when placed in proper context, must be viewed as a significant disappointment for FIFA. It failed to outperform a regular-season MLB game or a top-tier Premier League match in the key U.S. market. The bloated format and questionable placement in an already saturated calendar have been heavily criticized, and these viewership numbers validate those concerns. The tournament failed to create a sense of urgency or prestige, coming across as a commercially driven event rather than a pinnacle of sporting achievement.
The Path Forward: The data presents a clear lesson: context and narrative are king. The passion and history inherent in established leagues and national team tournaments are powerful drivers of viewership that manufactured competitions struggle to replicate. For FIFA, the underwhelming U.S. numbers for the Club World Cup should be a wake-up call. As the 2026 World Cup approaches, building momentum and capturing the imagination of the American public is paramount. The tournament cannot just compete for the attention of die-hard soccer fans; it must fight for space in a general sports media market against established properties like MLB and the NHL.
As it stands, the Club World Cup is a mid-tier sports property by U.S. viewership standards. To grow and to help build the foundation for a successful World Cup, FIFA must build a tradition that fans can connect with emotionally. Simply assembling top clubs is not enough. As the ratings show, an event's prestige is not just declared; it must be earned in the hearts and minds of the fans who ultimately decide what's worth watching.