FOX draws massive audience for pivotal NFL, World Cup and college football matchups

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend saw a massive audience turn to FOX for some of the biggest matchups in sports among the NFL, World Cup and college football.

FOX’s Thanksgiving audience for the Dallas Cowboys’ victory over the New York Giants set a record for most-watched regular-season NFL game ever. About 42 million people tuned into the game across FOX and FOX Sports streaming services. The viewership total was up over 49% compared to last season’s Thanksgiving matchup and up 3% over last year’s comparable window.

The Cowboys won the game 28-20.

On Friday, soccer fans tuned into the highly anticipated World Cup matchup between the United States and England. FOX said Saturday the U.S.-England match drew 15,377,000 views, making it the most-watched men’s soccer match on U.S. English television ever and said the audience was up 14% from the 2014 group stage match against Portugal, in which the two teams tied 2-2 and Cristiano Ronaldo was in his prime.

The two sides fought to a 0-0 draw.

On Saturday, Michigan dominated Ohio State 45-23 and made a stronger case to get into the College Football Playoff regardless of their result in the Big Ten Championship Game. It was Michigan’s first win at Ohio Stadium since 2000 and propelled them to a two-game winning streak in their rivalry.

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Saturday’s matchup was the first in which both teams entered 11-0 since the “Game of the Century” in 2006. The Wolverines are now 12-0 for the first time since winning a national championship in 1997, while Ohio State dropped to 11-1.

It all added to the audience number.

FOX said Michigan-Ohio State brought in 17 million viewers, becoming the most-watched regular-season college football game in FOX Sports history and the most-watched on any network since 2011.

It was a massive weekend boosted by the holidays and the pivotal matchups across three big sports.