The USWNT TV ratings in 2021 dropped, as did the attendance. This compounded what came out to be a, simply put, terrible year for the United States Women’s National Team.
The main competition in 2021 was the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. For the second-straight Olympics, the USWNT failed to reach the gold medal game. The squad did manage to bring him a bronze medal, but the talent on the team expects gold.
COVID-19 still presented an issue for in-person attendance. The USWNT dropped its attendance numbers compared to 2019, the last year with full attendance. In fact, the total attendance hit its lowest average since 2014, with 12,703 spectators at each game.
Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the TV ratings dropped dramatically as well. Here’s what the numbers looked like.
USWNT TV Ratings in 2021
| Date | Competition | Opponent | TV Channel | Viewership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 18 | Friendly | Colombia | FS1 | 396,000 |
| January 22 | Friendly | Colombia | ESPN2 | 317,000 |
| February 18 | She Believes Cup | Canada | FS1 | 498,000 |
| February 21 | She Believes Cup | Brazil | FS1 | 568,000 |
| February 24 | She Believes Cup | Argentina | FS1 | 530,000 |
| April 10 | Friendly | Sweden | FOX | 713,000 |
| April 13 | Friendly | France | ESPN2 | 288,000 |
| June 10 | Friendly | Portugal | FS1 | 383,000 |
| June 13 | Friendly | Jamaica | FS1 | 499,000 |
| June 16 | Friendly | Nigeria | ESPN2 | 392,000 |
| July 1 | Friendly | Mexico | FS1 | 496,000 |
| July 5 | Friendly | Mexico | ESPN | 694,000 |
| July 21 | Olympics | Sweden | USA | 148,000 |
| July 24 | Olympics | New Zealand | NBCSN | 687,000 |
| July 27 | Olympics | Australia | USA | 219,000 |
| July 30 | Olympics | Netherlands | NBCSN | 727,000 |
| August 2 | Olympics | Canada | USA | 150,000 |
| August 5 | Olympics | Australia | USA | 330,000 |
| September 16 | Friendly | Paraguay | ESPN2 | 292,000 |
| September 21 | Friendly | Paraguay | FS1 | 211,000 |
| October 21 | Friendly | South Korea | ESPN2 | 287,000 |
| October 26 | Friendly | South Korea | FS1 | 299,000 |
| November 26 | Friendly | Australia | FS2 | 120,000 |
Despite the drop compared to previous years, 2021 actually showed an improvement compared to 2020. On average, 401,913 people watched the U.S. this past year. That shows a nearly 80,000-person increase from the nine games in 2020 pulling 322,667. Of course, that year had less games and less competition due to the pandemic.
Going back a year prior, 1,996,917 was the average TV audience in 2019. the USWNT TV ratings represent an 80% drop compared to that year. Again, this is not the fairest comparison. A massive drop compared to a Women’s World Cup year is to be expected.
Unfortunately, the ratings also dipped compared to the previous Summer Olympics year. Back in 2016, the WNT averaged 679,455 viewers per game over 22 games.
Reasons for drop in viewership
The biggest culprit for less viewers is something out of the country’s control. Time difference plays a role when the games happen at 3 a.m. ET.
In the previous major tournaments, the host countries created favorable time slots for fans of the USWNT. In 2015, The Women’s World Cup was in Canada before going to France in 2019. The 2016 Summer Olympics were in Rio de Janeiro. Unfortunately for the fans of the USWNT, Tokyo is on the other side of the International Date Line. Therefore, all of the USWNT games at the Olympics kicked off very early in the morning. A number of games kicked off in the 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. window.
It’s not a coincidence that their two most watched games at the Olympics were the two that kicked off closer to 7am. None of the six games in Tokyo reaching a million viewers is a stark contrast to 2016. That year, all four games drew over a million viewers.
It’s also worth noting that Spanish-language viewing figures for USWNT games are incredibly difficult to find. In fact, only three games had numbers: the July 1 friendly against Mexico drew 171,000 on TUDN. Then, the Olympic opener against Sweden drew 51,000 on Telemundo. Finally, the second group stage Olympic game against New Zealand drew 209,000 viewers on Telemundo.
And finally the WNT viewership was also lower than MNT viewership (in English language only) for the first time since 2018 as the WNT drew 46% fewer viewers than their male counterparts with the MNT drawing 745,625 over 14 games in 2021. Factoring in the Spanish language numbers it’s even worse as the MNT drew a combined 1,528,381 viewers per game compared to just a combined 420,652 per game for the WNT.
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Jeff
May 26, 2022 at 4:01 pm
HA HA HA HA HA HA! The woke-sters on the women’s soccer team are proof-positive than you don’t have to be guys to be a bunch o JACK-ASSES!
Down with the USWNT!!
ALSO…the purple haired anorexic boy on the USWNT played very badly…just as the president said!
USMNFT
February 12, 2022 at 1:26 am
USWNST is a disgrace of a “team”. The fact the women are letting themselves be lead by that Rapinboy is stupid, but they will fall flat on their faces and realize they are not the $4i7 they think they are. A bunch of conniving and oportunistic is what they are and mostly everyone is becoming aware of their Shennanigans actions. Do yourself a favor and on YT find “Nate the Lawyer” who clarifies this frivolous discrimination lawsuit with facts and open your eyes.
Anthony
February 11, 2022 at 3:12 pm
Ratings will probably drop further as the vets like Morgan,Heath,Press etc are phased out. And the crazy kickoff times down under in 2023 won’t help either
c
April 24, 2022 at 2:17 pm
no. The conservatives quit watching due to Rapinoe and kneeling for flag. Just like NBA. Some of the others followed her lead . The media story above is a joke. I was their biggest fan. Will not watch again until Rapinoe is gone. Dont call me a hypocrite. 80% agree when you are on a national team, you do not disrespect America.
dave
February 10, 2022 at 4:41 pm
Thank you for compiling and sharing the data.
.
Does US Soccer have a plan to maintain consistent top-tier opponents for USWNT? The upcoming She Believes has a relatively weak slate of opponents. I think I read some top European teams are starting a competitor to She Believes.
.
It is an interesting transitional time for USWNT. It has been fun to see a few prospects in NWSL Time for the next generation to show what they can do on the international stage.
greg
February 10, 2022 at 2:15 pm
Oh FFS, both of these things are Fox News/OAN ginned up nonsense:
washingtonpost com/sports/2019/07/16/ashlyn-harris-says-jaelene-hinkle-left-off-uswnt-over-her-intolerance-not-religion/
archive.thinkprogress org/uswnt-isnt-anti-religion-its-anti-hate-36603f080788/
The booing at the Thorns wasn’t about the military, the boos hit when Trump’s name was mentioned. While I’ll agree it was not the best look, that’s more indicative of the Portland crowd than anything to do with USWNT. Watch the freakin video and you’ll see where the boos come in.
oregonlive com/portland-thorns/2019/09/portland-thorns-fans-boo-donald-trump-during-halftime-military-swearing-in-ceremony.html
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There’s a good debate to be had if we should be including military fly-overs, swearing-ins and other tie-ins at sporting events. I personally don’t like it, but I also accept it in the same way I accept the players’ and teams speaking out on issues they find important – equal pay, homophobia, etc. If you can’t accept both you might want to rethink your commitment to free expression (though keep in mind, private entities operating in private facilities can limit speech anyway they like…1st amendment & censorship is only applicable to government owned & operated spaces & facilities)
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And if expecting equal pay for equal work or trying to stamp out homophobia, racism, sexism, etc..qualifies one as a leftist extremist, well…again, there might be a recalibration in order.
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And for those who say “keep the site focused on football” or “politics have no place in sports”, note what kind of views started this particular discussion.
El Jefe
February 10, 2022 at 1:10 pm
I’m not gonna lie; the leftist extremism really turned me off and that player that was kicked off the team due to her religious beliefs. I even used to watch a bit of the NWSL until the Thorns fans booed those military service ladies that were being sworn in at halftime. Yikes.
Sports Watcher
February 10, 2022 at 11:50 am
Well considering they are a bunch of left-wing extremists, no wonder why people could care less.
USMNFT
February 9, 2022 at 6:39 am
USWNT, Who???
Yespage
February 9, 2022 at 9:55 am
The team that qualified for the World Cup Finals.
USMNFT
February 10, 2022 at 9:46 am
🤣😂🤣😂
Are you referring to the whinning gang whose head has blown up so high because they drank their own kool aid and feel they are the 5h!7 of the footballing world and are crying out to everyone how “underpaid” they are? nah , they are simply a bunch of charlatans or mafiosas.
Yespage
February 11, 2022 at 7:18 pm
Yeah, the ones that qualified for the World Cup Final.
USMNFT
February 12, 2022 at 1:19 am
You must mean the ones that got eliminated from the Olympics gold medal and most importantly will be embarrased once they lose the frivoluos discrimination lawsuit appeal. By the way, repeating “World Cup” does not mean anything as the women’s competition is a joke. Yes, USWNST is a joke and a bunch of ill willed mafiosas.
USMNFT
February 16, 2022 at 2:12 pm
Yoo-hoo!! anyone out there or are you hanging with the overated team who did not win the Olympic medal? 🤭🤭🤭
Jeff
May 26, 2022 at 4:19 pm
Uhhh…the USWNT didn’t win the gold medal four years ago…NOR did they this time!
This is the SECOND time they DIDN’T win gold….since they became WOKE…as the president said.
It matters not what USWNT did in the past …the point is they won very little since going woke.
In case you don’t get it I’ll break it down for you.
Pay close attention now;
WOKE MEANS….YOU LOSE!
Here’s THE PROOF;
Did the USWNT win the gold medal in this LAST Olympics?
No….they didn’t.
Did the USWNT win the gold medal in the Olympics before THAT?
No….they didn’t.
Before they went WOKE they won…afterward…they lost!
I hope that this has been of help to you in figuring this out. 🤔