Written by Diane Scavuzzo

More than 6 million viewers on ESPN watched as Landon Donovan chased down the soccer ball and sent it into the net allowing the U.S. to advance. Once again, San Diego was the top market for the U.S. vs. Algeria FIFA World Cup match on ESPN. This was the largest soccer audience ever for ESPN and San Diego delivered an 8.9 rating – all the more impressive considering the 7 a.m. start time.  The match has inspired many new soccer fans as viewers around the country held their breath as America scored its dramatic goal in stoppage time to earn a 1-0 win. 
 

Watching soccer has become an American passion.   The previous record for watching soccer on ESPN was set five days earlier with the U.S.-Slovenia match on June 18 when 3,906,000 households tuned in.

San Diego is the strongest soccer market in the America. With a population of 1,359,132, making it the 8^th largest city in the county, it is amazing that San Diego tops the nation for soccer viewers, with nearly twice as many soccer enthusiast tuning in than in New York. Rounding out the top 10 were Baltimore (6.7), San Francisco (6.1), Washington, D.C. (5.4), Sacramento (5.4), Houston (5.4), Las Vegas (5.4), Miami-Ft. Lauderdale (5.3), New York (5.3) and West Palm Beach (5.3). San Diego was also the top market for both the U.S./England game on ABC (11.5) and the U.S./Slovenia game on ESPN (8.5).
 

Soccer fans who could not watch on TV, logged online. The U.S. vs. Algeria game marked a milestone for online video, logging the largest U.S. audience ever for a sports event on the web.  It attracted nearly 1.1 million unique viewers with an average time spent viewing of 43 minutes. The match also averaged 328,000 viewers per minute in its live coverage. 

The 2010 FIFA World Cup continues with the Round of 16 elimination matches starting Saturday, June 26, on ESPN and ABC.