ESPN's World Cup Stream Draws Complaints During U.S. Match

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Germany's Lukas Podolski heads the ball against United States' Fabian Johnson during the group G World Cup soccer match between the USA and Germany at the Arena Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil, Thursday, June 26, 2014.

Image: Ricardo Mazalan/Associated Press

By Jason Abbruzzese2014-06-26 17:01:29 UTC

UPDATE 1:30 pm E.T. Thurs: EPSN confirmed on Twitter that there were some issues with its streaming service amid record demand from users.

Anxious U.S. soccer fans took to Twitter to voice frustration with ESPN's stream of the World Cup game against Germany on Thursday.

The ESPN feed was unavailable for at least some users, while it cut in and out for others. The game against Germany was the final group game for the U.S. at the World Cup and helped decide the team's fate in the tournament. Television ratings for the tournament have reflected a growing U.S. interest in the sport of soccer.

See also: A Soggy Start for USA-Germany World Cup Match

ESPN said that the stream peaked at 1.4 million viewers and that it is looking into limited problems due to "unprecedented demand."

The extent of the issues wasn't clear, and the stream seemed to be working fine for many viewers. But streaming video has been known to test the limits of content and broadband providers during times of heavy demand. HBO Go had trouble with the Game of Thrones premiere, and ABC's stream of the Oscars also resulted in issues.

Viewers having trouble with ESPN's stream can try Univision's free stream.

ESPN didn't immediately return a request for comment.

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Topics: Entertainment, ESPN, Media, Sports, streaming video, Television, Video