ESPN should be happy with the ratings it is receiving so far for its vast World Cup investment, whose production costs have been estimated at greater than $300 million.  Early returns show ratings are at least double what they were for Germany2006.  According to Bloomberg, reporting on an emailed statement from ESPN/ABC, the first five games averaged 4.94 million viewers, more than double 2006. 

The USA-England match on ABC was the most watched game for the US Men's National Teams since a 1994 round of 16 World Cup game against Brazil, held in the US.