U.S. Women's World Cup Semifinal Earns Fox Its Biggest Audience Since the Empire Finale

The U.S. beat Germany in the most-watched semifinal match ever. Getty Images

The U.S. advanced to the final of the Women's World Cup with a 2-0 win over Germany last night, and the match resulted in big ratings for Fox. In fact, it set a Fox record for soccer, averaging 8.4 million viewers. It was the broadcast network's highest-rated program among adults 18-49 since the season finale of Empire on March 18.

The match was close throughout, and Fox kept its audience and gained viewers as it went on—it started at 1.6 million viewers at 6:41 p.m. ET and peaked at a tournament-high 12.1 million from 8:30 to 8:45 p.m. Another 166,000 people streamed the match on Fox Sports Go, the largest authenticated streaming audience in the app's history. The game was also the most-watched World Cup semifinal match ever—men's or women's—in the U.S., breaking the mark set by the 2006 Germany-Italy World Cup semifinal.