This weekend saw two of the world’s biggest football tournaments come to a close, the UEFA European Championship and the Copa América. Throughout respective one-month runs, both tournaments proved to be a ratings hit.
The Euros, as the tournament is known colloquially, always goes down well with audiences. Europe is by far the biggest market for obvious reasons, but audiences further afield often pay attention due huge numbers of high-profile players seen on the pitch.
Last night saw the tournament come to a head. Spain had been delivering impressive performances throughout the competition, outclassing and beating some formidable opponents including hosts Germany.
Their opponents, England, had ground out some gruelling wins with penalty shootouts and extra time shock goals. A tense game on Sunday night saw Spain ultimately triumph 2-1 over their English competition, marking England’s second consecutive Euros final loss since the penalty shootout defeat to Italy at Euro 2020, held in 2021 due to COVID-19.
Although a defeat for the men’s national team, the Euros proved to be a victory for the country’s two biggest free-to-air broadcasters, the public service broadcaster BBC and advertising-funded ITV.
Full figures for the final are not quite clear, but according to Broadcastnow and The Guardian, the peak audience stood at 23.8 million.
This was split between 17.8 million on the BBC and six million on ITV, the former likely benefiting from the fact it does not have any ad breaks, offering viewers more uninterrupted coverage – although some England fans have been seen to enjoy the theme song to the Gillete razors advert this tournament.
England’s knockout stage games have consistently drawn in a substantial audience. A peak viewership of 16.8 million watched the Three Lions’ quarter-final win against Switzerland, followed by 20.3 million watching the semi-final victory over the Netherlands.
On the other hand, whilst still an impressive figure, the 23.8 million who tuned into the final marks a downgrade on the BBC and ITV’s performance in 2021, which brought in an average of 31 million.
However, this may be due to the pandemic. UK society was still under some lockdown conditions back in 2021, which particularly impacted how many people could view games in pubs. As a result, more people may have been watching at home as opposed to their local, a fan zone or town centre sports bar.
Turning to Copa América, this has likewise proved a hit with US audiences just as much as Euro 2024 has with UK and European ones. The fact that the tournament has been held in the US may have helped build up hype.
Viewing figures for the final have not yet been published, unfortunately. This may in part be due to the final itself being delayed, due to scenes eerily reminiscent of the Euro 2020 final between England and Italy.
The match at the Miami Hard Rock Stadium was held up by over 75 minutes after ticketless fans broke through security gates, many of whom were apprehended by security and police. There have also been reports of some fans climbing into the stadium via air vents.
Despite some ugly scenes at the final – which like its Euro 2020 counterpart three years ago will likely inspire some debate around stadium security and ticketing – Copa América proved to be a ratings success for its two US broadcasters, Fox Sports and TUDN.
Fox’s coverage of Argentina’s semi-final win over Canada brought in a total viewership of 1,985,000 on the company’s FS1 channel. Argentina would ultimately prove victorious in the tournament overall, beating Colombia 1-0 last night to claim their sixteenth Copa América title.
Interestingly, however, Euros games seem to have been the bigger draw for Fox Sports. For comparison, the outlet revealed that Spain’s 2-1 semi-final win against France garnered a peak audience of 3,196,000, just under double that of the Argentina-Canada Copa América fixture.
Regardless, one thing for certain is that football, or soccer as it is known by American sports fans, is gaining popularity in the US. This is partly due to the US’ increasing Hispanic population over recent decades, many of whom have heritage in countries where football/soccer is an integral part of local culture.
However, the migration of many prominent players from European leagues to Major League Soccer (MLS) likely also has its part to play in this. The so-called ‘Messi effect’ after the Argentina international and FC Barcelona legend moved to Inter Miami has often been cited as driving interest in the sport stateside.
With the US, Canada and Mexico set to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, US broadcasters will likely be hoping for this increase in popularity to only continue, as North American media and other sports stakeholders prepare to take on the biggest spectacle on the global sporting calendar.
Back in Europe, the BBC and ITV, alongside Irish public broadcaster RTE, have likewise got some preparing to do. Euro 2028 will be co-hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland (collectively the UK) and the Republic of Ireland, spread across nine cities.
