Women's World Cup Championship breaks TV ratings record

By The Wrap

The Wrap
July 6, 2015 at 9:03PM
United States' Abby Wambach holds up the U.S. flag as she celebrates after the U.S. beat Japan 5-2 in the FIFA Women's World Cup soccer championship in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Sunday, July 5, 2015. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
United States' Abby Wambach holds up the U.S. flag as she celebrates after the U.S. beat Japan 5-2 in the FIFA Women's World Cup soccer championship in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Sunday, July 5, 2015. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The U.S. Women's National Team are World Cup champions once again, and their 5-2 victory over Japan has set a ratings record in the process.

The Fox game scored a 15.2 household rating/27 share in the 56 metered markets measured by Nielsen, a very preliminary metric. That is the best-ever rating for a soccer game in the U.S. on a single network. The previous high-water mark came from 1999's Women's World Cup final versus China, which earned a 13.3 rating.

Sunday night's rating was up 77 percent over the 8.6 recorded by cable channel ESPN for the USA vs. Japan Women's World Cup final in 2011. Last night's metered market audience peaked at 18.3/31 from 8:45-9:00 p.m. ET, which included Team USA's winning celebration.

The match began at 7 p.m. ET.

Here are the Top 5 local markets for the championship contest:
1) Kansas City (20.6/35)
2) St. Louis (20.5/33)
3) San Diego (19.5/41)
4) Denver (19.4/36)
5) Austin (19.1/37)

Fast national numbers are expected later on Monday.

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