WASHINGTON, D.C. June 18 (DPI) — Monday’s World Cup matchup between the US and Ghana was the highest rated televised men’s soccer game in the US ever, according to ABC cable service ESPN, which aired the game.

Also airing the game – in Spanish – was Univision, which made the record ratings for ESPN all the more impressive.  Apparently many English-speaking viewers who cannot afford the cost of cable station ESPN clicked to Univision, where they were happy to brush up on the Spanish.

Reddit.com even encouraged viewers who do not subscribe to ESPN to tune in to Univision, a free channel, which is airing most of the preliminary-round games for free:

http://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/28e99q/lpt_if_you_want_to_watch_the_world_cup_but_only/

I’m too broke to afford espn / other channels that are presenting the World Cup 2014. ABC only shows a few select games [in my area]. I found that my local spanish station is showing all the games. I don’t understand a thing but I get to brush up on my spanish and haven’t missed a single game so far.

It should be added, though, that the 2011 Women’s World Cup Final, which featured the US women’s team, had a slightly higher US viewership.

http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2014/6/17/5817860/usa-ghana-ratings-2014-world-cup

ESPN was already enjoying some of its best ratings ever. Through the first 11 games, the networks of ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC had averaged about 3.7 million viewers. That was a 2 percent bump over the 2010 World Cup, which of course included a weekend game featuring the United States and England on ABC. If the ratings from that England match are removed, ratings were up a rather mind-blowing 37 percent.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/06/world-cup-ratings-usa-ghana-germany-portugal-day-5/