World Cup viewership stayed bipartisan despite Trump’s role: CNBC survey

President Donald Trump has made the World Cup one of the most visible political stages of his second term. But the tournament’s U.S. audience remained strikingly bipartisan, according to the latest CNBC All-America Economic Survey.

According to the survey, 49 percent of registered voters said they watched at least some of the World Cup. This included 51 percent of Democrats, 47 percent of Republicans and 47 percent of independents.

““It transcends partisanship, which is one of the few things you see in the world right now,” said Jay Campbell, a partner at Democratic polling firm Hart Research, which conducted the poll with the Republican firm Public Opinion Strategies.

The poll found the divide was just as narrow along other political lines. Fifty-one percent of voters who supported Kamala Harris in 2024 watched, compared to 47% of Trump voters. Voters who approved or disapproved of Trump voted at nearly identical rates, 47 percent and 50 percent, respectively.

The four-point Democrat-Republican gap in the World Cup was smaller than the partisan divide over voters’ favorite sports. Republicans were 13 points more likely to choose football than Democrats, while Democrats had a seven-point advantage in football and basketball overall.

Only 8% of voters named football as their favorite sport, while 17% said they watched the World Cup “a lot” and 32% said they watched “some” of it.

Micah Roberts, a partner at Public Opinion Strategies, called the tournament a place where “Democrats and Republicans are on the same page.”

The survey asked about World Cup viewers and asked respondents to name their favorite sport. The results suggest the tournament has largely avoided the partisan categorization that has dogged Trump in much of U.S. culture.

Since returning to office, Trump has chaired the White House task force overseeing the World Cup. FIFA President Gianni Infantino has appeared with him numerous times, and FIFA has opened offices in Trump Tower. Trump attended the World Cup draw held at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Performing Arts Center, where Trump’s name, which he added to the center, had to be removed by a recent court order.

Infantino also gave Trump 10 tickets worth $15,000 to last year’s Club World Cup final, according to Trump’s annual financial disclosure. Trump helped present the trophy and is expected to do so at the World Cup final on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

FIFA later awarded Trump the inaugural Peace Prize, based on scrutiny from European lawmakers and an ethics complaint accusing Infantino of violating FIFA’s political neutrality rules.

Trump’s involvement extended beyond the ceremonies.

After U.S. forward Folarin Balogun received a red card, which earned him an automatic one-game suspension, Trump called Infantino and asked him to review the call. FIFA commuted the suspension to probation, allowing Balogun to play in the next match against Belgium.

The USA lost 4-1 to Belgium and was eliminated. European football’s governing body UEFA described FIFA’s cancellation as “unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable”. FIFA said its disciplinary committee acted in accordance with the organization’s rules.

Again argument It didn’t hurt viewership. According to the All-America poll, half of MAGA Republicans watched, compared to 46% of non-MAGA Republicans.

The tournament’s international appeal has also reached Trump’s “America First” coalition. 88% of viewers said they watched games that did not include the United States, including 82% of all Republicans and 86% of MAGA Republicans.

The sharper divisions were on economic and educational issues. Fifty-nine percent of voters making at least $100,000 watched, compared to 31 percent of voters making less than $30,000. While the viewing rate among voters with a master’s degree reached 65 percent, this rate dropped to 40 percent among voters with a high school education or less. These distinctions may reflect access to pay television, where millions of viewers watched World Cup matches.

The CNBC All-America Economic Survey was conducted July 8 through July 12 by Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies. It polled 1,000 registered voters nationwide and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.