USA ratings climb 68% for 2010 World Cup.

The average American TV audience for the first three games played by Team USA are up 68% in 2010 compared to the same point during the 2006 World Cup, according to an analysis released by The Nielsen Company.

An average of 11.1 million viewers caught the English and Spanish language broadcasts for each of USA’s three Group C matchups in this year’s World Cup. In 2006, USA’s three group stage games averaged 6.6 million viewers.

“These ratings demonstrate the remarkable increase of interest in U.S. soccer over the last four years,” said Stephen Master, VP of sports at Nielsen. “The numbers are even more impressive when you consider that two of these games were played on weekday mornings, when many viewers are at work. Although more people than ever chose to watch live streaming video of the games from their computers and mobile devices, TV viewing climbed even higher.”

Yesterday’s dramatic USA-Algeria matchup drew an estimated 8.6 million viewers between ESPN and Univision, making it the second most watched U.S. game behind USA-England. The game’s viewership was up from the 7.5 million viewers who watched USA tie Slovenia last Friday.

For more information at http://www.nielsen.com