After World Cup, US men recede to background for 3 1/2 years

By RONALD BLUM
AP Sports Writer

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The United States men’s soccer team recedes into the background of American sports for the next 3 1/2 years. The team’s four World Cup matches averaged 12.2 million viewers on Fox but its 27 games on rated English-language networks from the start of 2020 through this fall averaged 668,000. That is according to Nielsen. The U.S. team averaged 2.45 million during the World Cup on Telemundo. That is double its 1.02 million average for 40 matches on Spanish-language networks during the three years ahead of the tournament. That compares with the NFL’s average of 17.1 million for the 2021 regular season.