CONCACAF, CONMEBOL and the Copa America organizing committee announced on Friday that the Copa America Centenario will set new tournament records for total and average attendance, television viewership and digital engagement.
By the time the tournament concludes after Saturday’s third-place match between the US and Colombia and Sunday’s final between Argentina and Chile, nearly 1.5 million fans will have attended the 32 Copa matches, netting an average of more than 46,000 fans per game. That will make it both the highest-attended Copa America in the tournament’s 100-year history and the second-best attended soccer tournament in the US in which more than 20 games were played, trailing only the 1994 men’s World Cup.
The Copa has also delivered impressive TV ratings in the US, with the tournament drawing 100 million views on the FOX and Univision networks. Tuesday’s Copa America semifinal between the US and Argentina was the most-watched men’s match in FS1 history, while Univision Deportes drew a larger audience during the group stage than they did during the group stage of the 2014 World Cup.
The US-Argentina match also set a digital record, as it was the most-viewed authenticated event in the history of FOX Sports Go.
"First, I'd like to thank both CONMEBOL and CONCACAF for all of their efforts in putting on a great tournament over the past month. With their support, and the amazing work by the [local organizing committee] staff, we were once again able to showcase that the United States has the ability to host big-time international sporting events as well as anyone in the world," US Soccer president and organizing committee chairman Sunil Gulati said in a statement.
"We all knew this tournament had great potential both on the field and off, and I'm happy to say that we were able to come together and provide the millions of fans both in the stadiums and around the world with a fantastic experience during Copa America Centenario. We are looking forward to the third-place match 816670233" tabindex="0">on Saturday and the final 816670234" tabindex="0">on Sunday evening, which promises to be one of the great international sporting events in the history of the United States."
Held for the first time outside of South America as CONMEBOL commemorated the competition's 100-year anniversary, Copa America Centenario featured an expanded field of 16 teams including the traditional 10 teams from CONMEBOL along with CONCACAF nations Costa Rica, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama and the host US as special guests.
