Portugal vs AS, Penonton Bola di AS Catat Rekor Terbanyak
Portugal Match Sets the Most Watched Football Match Ever in United States
Editor : Cahyani Harzi
Translator : Dhelia Gani
Washington (B2B) - Pertandingan dramatis antara Amerika Serikat dengan Portugal Minggu waktu setempat lalu yang berkesudahan 2-2 boleh saja beakhir mengecewakan bagi AS, tapi pertandingan itu mencatat pemirsa terbanyak di AS.
Jaringan televisi kabel ESPN melaporkan bahwa pertandingan itu menarik 18,2 juta pemirsa untuk menjadi "pertandingan sepak bola yang paling banyak ditonton di Amerika Serikat" dan event terbesar di ESPN yang bukan event profesional atau sepakbola bola Amerika tingkat universitas, seperti dilansir Yahoo Sports.
Rekor sebelumnya adalah milik laga final Piala Dunia Putri 1999 antara AS dan Tiongkok yang mentita perhatian 18 juta pemirsa AS statement.
Secara lokal, ESPN mengatakan peringkat tertinggi ada di Washington, Columbus, New York, Boston, dan dua kota di negara bagian Connecticut yaitu Hartford dan New Haven.
Pertandingan sebelumnya antara AS melawan Ghana menarik 11,1 juta penonton di seluruh AS. Skuat AS akan kembali bertanding Kamis nanti melawan Jerman.
Washington - The United States' 2-2 World Cup draw with Portugal is almost certainly the most-watched football game ever in the US, an emphatic confirmation of the sport's rising popularity in a country slower to embrace it than the rest of the world.
The Nielsen company said that Monday's gripping game was seen by an average of 24.7 million viewers on ESPN and Univision. That matches it with the 24.7 million US viewers who watched the 2010 World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands.
ESPN said an additional 490,000 people streamed coverage of the game on their mobile devices through the company's app. Streaming numbers for 2010 weren't immediately available, but it's unlikely they were that high because streaming apps were not as sophisticated then.
Many factors were in place to make it so popular:Interest in the US team was high because of the first-game victory against Ghana and World Cup viewing in general has been high.
The game has continued to grow steadily ever since the US hosted the World Cup in 1994.
