From Aditya Soni and Jaspreet Singh

July 22 (Reuters Sports Service) - Nearly 63 million Americans watched Spain beat Argentina in the World Cup final last Sunday, shattering viewership records and confirming the growing popularity of the game in the United States after decades of efforts to expand its fan base.

The final match was held in New Jersey, and the score remained 0-0 until Spain scored the winning goal in the 106th minute to clinch the title with a score of 1-0.

Fox's English-language broadcast attracted 38.9 million viewers, while Comcast's Telemundo and Peacock streaming platform drew an additional 23.9 million viewers for their Spanish-language coverage, according to data from the two companies.

The total number of viewers thus far exceeded the record set for the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, which was watched by 22.3 million viewers in the United States.

These strong figures came as a culmination of what analysts described as the outstanding performance of the broadcasting networks airing the tournament.

Fox and Comcast had paid approximately $485 million and $600 million respectively for broadcast rights packages that included the World Cup, according to media reports.

Several playoff games also outperformed major American sporting events in terms of viewership. The England-Mexico game in the round of 16 attracted around 45 million viewers, far surpassing the roughly 27 million who watched a baseball game in which the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, and the roughly 25 million who watched Game 5 of the NBA Finals, in which the New York Knicks ended a 53-year championship drought by defeating the San Antonio Spurs.

Although these numbers were still less than the approximately 126 million viewers who watched the Super Bowl, in which the Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots, they represent a milestone for a sport that has long lagged behind American football, basketball, and baseball in terms of popularity in the United States.

The tournament, which was co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico for the first time, benefited from having matches scheduled at times convenient for the American public.

The prospect of some of the game's biggest stars making their final World Cup appearance, including Argentina's Lionel Messi and his Portuguese rival Cristiano Ronaldo, also contributed to the heightened public interest. The United States last hosted the finals in 1994.

Fox One, which owns the English-language broadcasting rights in the United States, recorded 2.8 million subscriptions during June, its best month since its launch in August, and more than double the 1.1 million subscriptions it recorded during the NFL playoffs in January, according to Antena, a company that tracks the performance of the broadcasting sector.

The great popularity of football among Latin Americans also contributed to strong viewership ratings for the Spanish-language channel Telemundo.

Vicente Navarro, a senior executive at the sports marketing firm Goat Digital, said, "The viewership figures exceeded the internal expectations of both networks, by a significant margin."

He added that the cost of a prominent 30-second advertisement during the knockout games reached up to $1 million, more than double the levels recorded in 2018. Among the most prominent advertisers were PepsiCo, Home Depot, Anheuser-Busch and Coca-Cola, according to Sensor Tower, a market intelligence firm.

For comparison, a 30-second television advertisement during a Super Bowl typically costs around eight million dollars or more.

* Hydration breaks boost broadcast returns

Besides its popular success, the tournament also proved its commercial viability for broadcasting networks, thanks to what is known as the "refreshment break," which divided the matches into four parts and provided additional advertising opportunities.

Experts said these extra breaks helped offset the high broadcasting rights costs and also attracted the attention of food and beverage companies.

According to a report published by The Hollywood Reporter in June, Fox, led by Lachlan Murdoch, is expected to earn at least $250 million from hydration break ads alone, while Telemundo did not broadcast ads during those breaks.

Luke Stillman, managing director at research firm Madison & Wall, said, "The new advertising space is certainly generating more spending on the World Cup."

He added, "It would be surprising if this model did not become a permanent part of the tournament in the future, which will likely lead to an increase in the value of broadcasting rights in the coming years."

However, it remains unclear whether some of the American-themed aspects of the tournament will continue in the future, including the huge halftime show reminiscent of the "Super Bowl" and the extension of the break to 27 minutes, compared to the traditional 15 minutes in football.

FIFA also announced that the World Cup champion will receive a commemorative ring for the first time, in a clear inspiration from one of the most famous American sporting traditions.

Spain, Portugal and Morocco are scheduled to host the 2030 World Cup finals, while Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 edition. The match times in both tournaments are likely to be less convenient for the American viewer, which could negatively affect viewership levels in the future.