A recent analysis by Nielsen Sports has revealed that the summer's Club World Cup matches attracted a staggering 2.7 billion viewers worldwide. The tournament, which was aired globally for free by DAZN and local sub-licensees, saw an impressive surge in its audience base. The newly expanded tournament was broadcasted globally through over 100 sub-licensing deals. In the UK alone, Channel 5 showcased some fixtures with around 2.4 million viewers tuning in for the final to witness Chelsea's victory.
According to Nielsen’s report, approximately 80% of worldwide football fans were aware of this US-based tournament that ran from June 14 to July 13. The official social media accounts of the tournament gained nine million followers while DAZN’s social channels delivered over ten billion impressions during that month. Furthermore, FIFA Club World Cup topped Google's most searched sport competition list.
Interestingly, non-live content such as highlights documentaries and magazine shows on DAZN also had a significant viewer base with about 80% of DAZN viewers consuming this content in addition to live matches.
Country-specific viewership insights
In Brazil where all four teams advanced beyond group stages, more than half (62%) of the population watched the tournament on television - equivalent to over 131 million people. Brazilian network TV Globo recorded its three highest audiences during this period with CR Flamengo’s game against FC Bayern München drawing a crowd of around 37.3 million people.
Spain and Italy also reported high engagement rates with nearly half their populations tuning into watch - approximately representing an audience size of around 24 million and around 28 million respectively.
Portugal saw more than half (60%) its population watching across DAZN and sublicensee TVI while Saudi Arabia reported a whopping viewer share rate at nearly78% for the match between Manchester City FC and Al Hilal.
Record-breaking viewership in Argentina
In Argentina, the match between CA Boca Juniors and SL Benfica was watched by more than 9.1 million people, representing an audience share of 84.2%. This figure is the highest since the 2023 CONMEBOL Libertadores final. Meanwhile, Boca’s cross-city rivals CA River Plate recorded an 87% share of the entire television audience during their game against CF Monterrey.
FIFA secretary general, Mattias Grafström, said:
“These preliminary figures confirm that the FIFA Club World Cup has been a global success and a game-changer. From the incredible atmosphere in the stadiums in the United States to 2.7 billion people engaging around the world, the tournament has exceeded expectations. FIFA promised to take this tournament to the world, and there’s no doubt that the world took to the tournament. We thank our global broadcast partner DAZN for their support in delivering this success.”
The Nielsen Sports report clearly indicates that Club World Cup has a massive global appeal with billions tuning in to watch from all corners of the world. The tournament's success can be attributed to its wide accessibility through DAZN and local sub-licensees as well as its engaging non-live content offerings.
