[TV WATCH] The USA's 3-2 Confederations Cup final loss to Brazil was watched on ESPN by 3.9 million people, making it the most-viewed non-World Cup game for the U.S. national team on ESPN. The figure doesn't include viewers who watched Spanish-language Univision's broadcast of the game.
The ESPN Sunday afternoon broadcast received a 2.6 cable rating and was seen in 2.55 million households. It was the third-largest audience to watch the team on ESPN, after the 1-0 quarterfinal loss to Germany at the 2002 World Cup (5.33 million viewers) and the 2-1 victory over Colombia in the first round of the 1994 World Cup.
For the Brazil-USA, Miami/Fort Lauderdale led the country with a 5.67 rating, followed was Las Vegas (4.28), New York (4.23) and West Palm Beach (3.65) — all areas that likely also had large viewership for Univision's broadcast.
The Palm Beach Post pointed out that West Palm Beach's high rating — 28,000 homes out of the 779,000 in the market that receive ESPN — was likely because of interest sparked by Boca Raton's Jozy Altidore, who scored in the semifinal win over Spain.
Several U.S. World Cup games on ESPN's sister network ABC have drawn more viewers, such as U.S.-Italy game at the 2006 World Cup, which drew a 4.4 rating and 6.7 million viewers.
Aaron Lewis of Nielsen ratings service told the Boston Globe that 2009 Confederations Cup final ratings are good news for ESPN, which upgraded its schedule of international soccer — including the English Premier League and Spain's La Liga — for next season. "ESPN certainly recognizes these opportunities," said Lewis.