U.S. viewership for the first three games played by Team USA in the World Cup jumped 68 percent in 2010, compared to the same point during the 2006 World Cup, The Nielsen Company announced Thursday.
An average of 11.1 million Americans watched English and Spanish language broadcasts of the games. That’s up from an average of 6.6 million viewers in 2006.
The most-watched of Team USA’s Group C matchups in the U.S. was its game against England, which drew 17.1 million viewers. The USA-Slovenia matchup drew 7.5 million U.S. viewers, while 8.6 million viewers watched Team USA beat Algeria in the final minutes of Wednesday’s matchup.