Fox’s soccer coverage has been panned by critics and fans alike for years, but the formula has thus far proven successful for a casual American audience, argues Drew Lerner.
Fox Sports enters the thick of its “summer of soccer” schedule this weekend as the quarterfinals for both UEFA EURO 2024 and the Copa America get underway. As such, the seemingly biennial tradition of criticizing the network’s soccer coverage is now weeks into its run, and familiar refrains of the coverage being too USMNT-centric, patronizing to “real” soccer fans, and Alexi Lalas-ing fans to death have played out like clockwork.
Despite the predictable complaints, Fox has enjoyed viewership success for both tournaments thus far. Through the Round of 16 for the Euros, Fox is averaging 1.24 million viewers across all networks, up 31% from the same point in 2021. The figure does not include five less-desirable matches that the network sublicensed to Fubo, which would certainly bring the number down, albeit likely still well above the 2021 figures.
As for the Copa America, Fox is averaging 1.10 million viewers across all networks through the group stage. That figure is up 400% from 2021 (which did not feature the USMNT) and 48% from 2016 (the last time the USMNT participated in the tournament).
So why has Fox seen such substantial growth for these soccer properties? Aside from the continued popularization of the sport in the United States, which certainly deserves some credit, the fortuitous scheduling for both tournaments has played a role. With the two largest international soccer tournaments outside of the World Cup both happening at the same time, on the same network, the matches naturally draft off of each other’s momentum. Viewers can tune into Fox networks for Euros coverage early in the afternoon and stay with Fox networks all the way through the final Copa America match that night.
Aside from scheduling, the most important factor contributing to Fox’s viewership success is the involvement of the USMNT. Their final group stage game against Uruguay averaged 3.78 million viewers on FS1, with all three USMNT matches averaging a combined 3.15 million viewers across FOX and FS1.
The status of the USMNT as the most widely-followed and popular soccer team in America is maybe underrated as a point of discussion around the sport in this country. Soccer writer Graham Ruthven perhaps best described American soccer culture in a piece published in the lead up to this year’s Copa America. Ruthven noted the important distinction between the American soccer fan — who roots for the USMNT and USWNT above all else — and that of a European fan — whose club allegiances run deeper than any loyalties to their national team. Ruthven says, “While the American soccer ecosystem at club level has continually shifted, the national team has been a constant. They are for all intents and purposes a club team for many supporters. In other countries, discussion about the national team is parked between international windows. The discourse around the USMNT – and the USWNT – on the other hand, never stops.”
This distinction is born out in soccer viewership stateside. Take this year’s UEFA Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund for instance. Arguably the most important club soccer match of the year averaged 2.32 million viewers on CBS, fewer viewers than all three USMNT matches in this year’s Copa America. The most watched Champions League Final since at least 2009 was two years ago, when Real Madrid and Liverpool averaged 2.76 million viewers.
Domestic clubs don’t fare any better. The most-watched MLS Cup Final in 27 years was the 2022 Philadelphia-LAFC match, which averaged 2.16 million viewers. All of these figures are substantially lower than what the USMNT and USWNT have drawn during international competitions. (For the sake of simplicity, we are using English-language viewership only.)
One couldn’t blame American soccer fans for being less-than-enthused when it comes to club soccer either. The best teams in the world play overseas at inconvenient times for the American viewer. And by comparison, the MLS offers a subpar product hidden away on Apple TV. So for many would-be soccer loyalists in the United States, the question becomes why bother?
This dynamic results in a large swath of American soccer fans who enjoy the sport, maybe even wish they could watch it more, but only tune in for competitions featuring the USMNT or USWNT. This “national team only” audience is not insignificant either. USMNT and USWNT matches in major competitions consistently set soccer viewership records that club soccer doesn’t even sniff in America. USMNT games during the 2022 World Cup averaged 12.03 million viewers. Even the 2023 Women’s World Cup, played in Australia and New Zealand, averaged 3.8 million viewers for USWNT games, despite two of four matches being played completely in the overnight hours in the United States.
Another signal that Americans generally only care about soccer when it comes to the national teams is by taking a look at mainstream sports talk shows like First Take, PTI, and The Herd. Each show has had segments on the USMNT since its loss to Uruguay on Monday, but one would be hard pressed to find any segments about club soccer on these shows.
To get more granular about it, the summer international window, when the world’s major tournaments like Copa America and the Euros occur, coincide with the deadest portion of the American sports calendar — allowing the USMNT to breakthrough in ways it wouldn’t in the heart of football season or NBA playoffs.
So why blame Fox for catering to precisely what much of the American soccer audience is looking for? The audience is there because of their interest in the U.S. The result? Peppering broadcasts with teases for the next USMNT game, Jenny Taft-narrated reports while she is embedded with the team, and even now with the U.S. knocked out, studio segments surrounding coach Gregg Berhalter‘s future.
One of the common criticisms of Fox’s coverage is that devout soccer viewers feel patronized between the amount of USMNT-centric segments and the lack of tactical discussion about the games. Some of Fox’s studio shows are spent with simplistic segments like ranking the top five goals of the tournament, while other segments talk only of the USMNT. More often though, Fox’s studio segments are filled with standard recaps and previews of matches that happened earlier or are coming up later.
In any case, it’s difficult to think of a studio show in any sport that frequently discusses tactics in-depth, or avoids segments wholly dedicated to a popular team. Inside the NBA surely doesn’t discuss tactics, but definitely has its fair share of Lakers segments. Likewise, The NFL Today isn’t breaking down cover-2, but is definitely dedicating a segment to Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and the Chiefs. While Fox’s studio coverage may not be winning Sports Emmys, it is simply benign, like many other studio shows.
A piece about Fox’s soccer coverage would be incomplete without some discussion about Alexi Lalas, the former USMNT star and relentless fire-stoking analyst oft-decried for his takes both on and off the pitch. It’s easy to dismiss Lalas as a charlatan because of his willingness to take contrarianism to its furthest possible end, but he might be exactly the voice that best defines the median U.S. soccer fan. Early adopters of soccer in the United States might wish to have analysts debate what formation is best suited to counter a high block, but most fans may be better served with Lalas-style narrative punditry about why this generation of American players hasn’t lived up to its “golden generation” billing.
Witnessing the raw emotion of Lalas and other former national teamers Clint Dempsey and Carli Lloyd following the USMNT loss to Uruguay made for much more compelling television than talk about what went wrong for the U.S. tactically. Even when the Canadians advanced to the semifinal after besting Venezuela on Friday, hearing Lalas, Dempsey, and another former USMNT player Maurice Edu provide narrative-style analysis from an American perspective felt worthwhile for the American soccer fan. For practically its entire soccer history, Canada has been little brother to the United States (if they’re even in the family at all). Now, managed by former USMNT player Jesse Marsch, they’ve reached the semifinals of Copa America, just as the USMNT did in 2016. That history and those connections are worth discussing for an audience of American soccer fans, and Fox’s crew has excelled at telling those stories.
There exists a divide among soccer fans in the United States. There are those that live and breathe the sport, waking up early to watch Premier League on weekends, and those that primarily follow the national team. Fox’s editorial decision to cater to the broader “national team only” audience is entirely reasonable. As popular as soccer is globally, it remains a sport with a rhythm more akin to the Olympics in the United States — that is, a sport that viewers gladly tune into every couple years during major competitions, then tune out again once football season rolls around.
There’s nothing wrong with that. However, until American fans show a willingness to treat soccer as a sport worth watching beyond a few USMNT and USWNT games every year, it’s difficult to demand coverage that strays too far from what the audience demonstrably wants. Fox’s strategy is clearly effective, viewers are tuning in in larger numbers than ever before. Why would they change now?
The men’s Mexico national team is the most popular national soccer team in the US based on tv numbers, match attendance in the US and jersey sales.
the key statement for US soccer fans is “ MLS offers a subpar product hidden away on Apple TV..” Amazing how short sighted MLS could be. Last year, there was such a missed opportunity with Lionel Messi coming to the MLS. This was the biggest sports story in the last year besides..dare I say Caitlin Clarke. If MLS still had a contract with Fox, could you imagine the cross promotion they would have had with the women’s World Cup? There would have been such a buzz and really would have made a big impact. Would have had some great ratings (and may have come close to the record mls cup viewership). A telling sign about US soccer coverage is from the time Messi won the World Cup in Dec 2022, to the time Copa America started this year, Messi appeared on linear tv one time. On 1 Fox sub-licensed MLS game. That’s it. And Fox is not making any effort on those Apple TV produced sub licensed games. The biggest star player in the world is playing in our country and he is in the cloud behind a paywall. MLS really missed out. This is not the NFL. MLS got a great payday from Apple. But in the long run is it worth it? And finally, Fox does a great job with their international soccer coverage. They go all in. Can’t complain.
Good points on Messi and MLS missing boat. But did MLS really get a good payday from Apple? Not IMO. While rights fees are skyrocketing with inflation and ever growing desire for sports, MLS signs a deal with apple in which the league produces broadcast. Its not even on AppleTV -i its on a pay wall, which is a double loser for both. If they were signing this year – who knows WB-D may have jumped in along with the net lets of ION/CW. The MLS deal just opened up broadcast for new (UFL) or rejuvenated leagues (WNBA). MLS really missed the boat but were desperate due to their ponzi like scheme of new team fees which is drying up. $250mm gross before prodcost over almost 30 teams with reduced visibility? Not so big a pay deal.
Missed opportunity?
They’ve got over 2 million subscribers, ad revenue and sponsorship money is through the roof, and attendance is going to be a record high again this year.
We should all miss opportunities that badly.
One extremely salient point the writer makes is the scheduling of both the Euro’s and the Copa’s on the same network (Fox/FS1} has been ideal. Euro match in the afternoon and Copa at night and with a dependable schedule that the sport of soccer offers (no best of 7 series of MLB/NBA/NHL that may leave gaps in start dates). That unpredictable nature of US sports leagues may have caused a small erosion of the NBA’s final ratings. Almost 10 days between end of conference finals and start of the finals. Both conference finals featured a team going up 3-0 virtually killing any momentum going into the finals.
I think it makes total sense that US National Team games do better than Local “CIty” teams like MLS. The US national team calls the USA its home with 330mm people. The Philadelphia Union calls Philly its home with 6mm. So unless you just love soccer (shutter!) a team representing a bigger area should do better. There seems to be a tournement of some kind going on all the time, so the numbers are not bad. Do you think the demo is helped by latin-americans in USA? At least for Copa? I can only imagine Fox in general is pleased with the ratngs.
The same website that “compliments” Fox for dumbing down their coverage for a larger, general audience just panned ESPN for doing very similar things for their nba finals coverage doing similar things. 🤔 sketchy
I wrote the NBA article. Drew wrote the Fox soccer article. We have different opinions.
Not that you or the site need defending Jon, but ESPN NBA ratings are also down while Fox soccer ratings are way up, which seems relevant to this discussion.
The real issue here IMHO is that “soccer fans who watch more than just big tournaments” as another commenter put it are just vanishingly few in number but are hugely represented in online media criticism. I’m sure there are Track & Field superfans who despise NBC’s Olympic coverage since it lacks deep discussion of race strategy, but NBC acceding to their preferences would result in the loss of millions of viewers. Same thing here and same thing at the Super Bowl as Jon pointed out on the podcast.
Ironically, NBC does televise every major track, figure skating and skiing event year-round and has had those rights for several years now, so they do super-serve fans of those sports!
But yeah, I’ll never fault a broadcaster for recognizing its audience and catering to it. The mute button is always an option if I really don’t like it!
Appreciated the followup on the pod. You mostly are spot on. Don’t blame Fox’s business or programming decision at all. Jt was spot on. But I wish more people, not just your site, separated the business/programming side of their analysis from the actual production side.
Yes, being on a more widely distributed network will show “growth” and new soccer fans are being created every year.
Personally, as a longtime fan of these international events, Fox’s actual coverage has lessened my and my friends’ enjoyment of the tournaments this summer. Especially the Euros. Joyless, green screen studio… pap analysis… more fake Alexi, and “one-way storytelling”. It’s a letdown. Though I still get Drew’s larger point about broadcasting strategy.
People aren’t tuning into these games because Fox is the network broadcasting them, or because they enjoy seeing absolute dunces like Alexi Lalas are playing pantomime villains on the set. The audience is there for the games — and to your point about the growing audience, the increased exposure of the game here in the States, and the ease of selling international games to said audience, means these matches would have done numbers for any network airing them, especially for those featuring the “home team” (who in fact are *not* the most popular soccer team in the US — that would be El Tri — but I digress.)
The major difference, and the biggest criticism of Fox’s so-called coverage of soccer, is that the likes of NBC/Peacock, CBS/Paramount, ABC/ESPN, and even minor networks like beIn Sports, would have guarantee that there would be something in their analysis for both the casual and the committed soccer fans, as opposed to just the former cohort. Those of us who do watch soccer beyond just the occasional major tournament can also see how other networks cover those sports — Fox’s production lags so far behind all of those operations that the pressing the mute button at halftime has become a ritual for us all.
And on the note about the powers of the “national team only” soccer fans: I would even go as far as to say that the “USMNT fans” and “USWNT fans” aren’t actually soccer fans at all, and not even in the way of the typical “you don’t know ball” perspective. To echo Bomani Jones’ sentiments about certain sections of WNBA fans, a huge section of the USMNT/USWNT-only fans see their favorite team not as a sports team, but as a CAUSE. It’s actually more fun to watch games with people who don’t know how the offside rule works than with the type of “fan” who puts on club matches just to track individual players for 90+ minutes, and talks incessantly about how America’s riches and resources mean this country has a manifest destiny to dominate both the men’s and women’s game for all eternity.
I can’t think of a scenario under which Fox Soccer should ever be defended. Nor, for that matter, the strain of soccer “fandom” that the author seems to also be defending here.