Despite competition from the NCAA Tournament’s Saint Peter’s-North Carolina East Region Final and the Academy Awards, Sunday night’s FIFA World Cup qualifying match between the United States and Panama drew over one million viewers to FS1’s broadcast
According to Fox Sports, the audience was the largest for a USMNT World Cup qualifier on FS1 versus an opponent other than Mexico. The average viewership of 1,036,000 viewers represents a 23 percent increase from the previous USMNT World Cup qualifier televised on FS1, which was a match versus Honduras on Feb. 2.
As shown in a graphic posted to Twitter with data from Nielsen, the FS1 telecast drew the highest average audience in Columbus, Ohio, with 1.43 million watching. Columbus was followed by Kansas City, Cincinnati, Salt Lake City, and Seattle among the top five markets for the broadcast.
The United States decisively defeated Panama in the match, 5-1, led by Christian Pulisic’s three goals and additional scores from Paul Arriola and Jesus Ferreira.
While the USMNT has not yet officially qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the victory over Panama puts the team in excellent position, clinching at least a top-four finish in its CONCACAF Octagonal.
With its four-goal margin over Panama, the U.S. would have to lose by six or more goals in its next match versus Costa Rica to be knocked out of an automatic qualifying spot.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
