OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) has announced the audience numbers for the KFC World Cup of Softball presented by Six Flags and the Men’s Slow Pitch Border Battle which aired July 16-20 on ESPN and ESPN2 – and in high definition on ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD. With a combined 17 telecasts providing more than 34 hours of softball programming across both networks, ESPN’s five World Cup games averaged a 0.7 rating and 653,000 households, up 17% (0.6) and 9% (vs. 600,000), respectively, over ESPN’s coverage of the 2007 World Cup of Softball. The inaugural Men’s Slow Pitch Border battle on ESPN recorded a 0.7 as a standalone game reaching over 650,000 households.

“The increases in our audience demonstrates that softball has a dedicated and passionate fan base that continues to grow,” said Carol Stiff, senior director, ESPN programming and acquisitions. “We are proud to be partners in such an exciting sport.”

“ESPN’s coverage and support of this year’s World Cup was tremendous,” said World Cup batting leader Natasha Watley (Irvine, Calif.). “I love when fans all over the country and world can watch our sport and see what a quick, fun game it is. ESPN has been such a strong partner for our sport and we can’t thank them enough for the coverage.”

The 2009 USA vs. Japan game on July 18 saw the highest single game rating of 0.8.

In comparison to the 2008 Bound 4 Beijing Tour games, the six World Cup games averaged a 0.7 rating on ESPN and 653,000 households, up 40% (0.5) and 24% vs. 528,0000, respectively,.

“The opportunity to wear the USA uniform and be on ESPN showcasing the sport of slow pitch was simply just a dream come true,”said Team USA Border Battle first baseman Rusty Bumgardner. “It was such a thrill andthe television presenceand ratings has really given our sport a strong push of momentum. And tomake theSportsCenter highlight reel wasreally a thrill. It was such a great game and I am looking forward to future opportunities and hopefully to see the Border Battle expand.”

In addition to the television coverage on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD, new this year all seven USA games were streamed live on ESPN360.com. Selected games from ESPN’s coverage were also televised globally to 146 countries across ESPN International networks including Atlantic, Pacific Rim, Australia HD, Brazil HD, Israel, Middle East, ESPN Caribbean, ESPN2 Caribbean, and ESPN America.