Super Bowl Pales in Comparison to the Biggest Game in Soccer

While Americans are getting ready for the 59th Super Bowl, the rest of the world isn't as fussed about what is arguably the biggest overall spectacle in the world of sports. With all the headlines surrounding the Super Bowl and the show that comes with it, it’s easy to overestimate the global appeal of the biggest game in (American) football.

Speaking of football, soccer, i.e. the proper kind of football from a European perspective, far exceeds the Super Bowl in terms of global interest. The FIFA World Cup Final, played every four years to culminate a month-long tournament of 32 nations, really is the biggest game in the world, regularly reaching more than a billion people across the globe.

According to FIFA, the 2022 World Cup Final between Argentina and France reached an average live audience of 571 million viewers across the globe, with more than 1.4 billion people watching at least one minute of the 120-minute thriller live. The 2024 Super Bowl pales in comparison, despite reaching new viewing records both domestically and internationally. According to Nielsen, Super Bowl LVIII drew an average audience of 123.7 million viewers in the U.S. plus a total international audience of 62.5 million.