Never mind the technical glitch that plagued ESPN’s livestream of the USA-Germany World Cup match on Thursday: The showdown yielded big numbers for the network.
Thursday’s face-off between the United States and Germany — which saw the U.S. lose 1-0 — was the second-highest-rated World Cup match ever on ESPN, behind the U.S. vs. Portugal tie on June 22.
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The match averaged a 6.7 household rating for ESPN for the United States. In total viewers, the match averaged 10.8 million total viewers, making it the third-most-watched World Cup match ever on ESPN. (The Portugal draw and the USA’s win over Ghana on June 17 drew more viewers.)
On the streaming front, Thursday’s match set a record for WatchESPN, which experienced technical issues at the start of the match. WatchESPN’s coverage of the match amassed 3.2 million unique users, with 143 million live minutes viewed. The livestream surge accounted for a 10 percent lift for ESPN’s English-language TV audience, ESPN said.