World Cup Final the Most Watched Sporting Event in 2006

That tiny little game between France and Italy turned out to be a big winner in the television ratings world. The World Cup Final beat out the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl to lay claim to the most watched sporting event of the year.

According to a report by Initiative Worldwide:

An average of 260 million people tuned in to see Italy claim its fourth title after winning 5-3 in a penalty shootout. More than 600 million viewers watched some part of the Berlin match.

This was more than double the average global audience for the Super Bowl, but far less than some of the estimates we heard during the tournament. Overall, the television ratings for the World Cup were stronger than ever before:

Soccer is increasing its global domination, Initiative said, citing a 14 percent increase in the World Cup’s global live audience compared with 2002. This year’s event had a cumulative 5.9 billion audience in 54 countries, of which 41 percent were women.

Closer to home, World Cup Blog has had 4.5 million unique visits and 17 million pageviews in the past year. I have no idea where that stands on the global scale, but I thank each and every one of you for stopping by. You will be rewarded in the afterlife. That is a money back promise.