Frankfurt, 11/06/2021. Football fans have had to wait a year, but the waiting is finally over. Tonight kicks off the UEFA Euro 2020, which had to be delayed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. At 9 p.m. the opening match, Turkey vs Italy in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, will be broadcast on ARD. From 11 June to 11 July 2021 teams from 24 countries will square off against each other at different venues. Football has always been hugely popular, captivating viewers and generating mass enthusiasm like few other media events can. AGF Videoforschung, which tracks TV and streaming coverage daily, delivers some interesting comparison data from recent years for the start of the Euros.
“For a comparison with other major sports events, the countries and time zones of the matches must always be considered, since the broadcast time can affect TV usage and so the performance numbers,” explains Kerstin Niederauer-Kopf, CEO AGF Videoforschung. “The days of the week also play a role in the analysis, as do which sides go up against each other. In the past, German broadcasters have generally enjoyed greater viewing participation when the German team played than when it did not. In addition, interest normally builds as the tournament progresses, so that quarter- and semi-finals, and naturally the final game, have particularly high viewership.”
A comparison of opening games
The last UEFA EURO Cup was played from 10 June to 10 July 2016 in France. The opening game between France and Romania started at 9 p.m. and brought ZDF a viewing participation averaging 15.473 million viewers and a market share of 50.0 percent of viewers age 3 and above (total viewers). Among 14 to 49 year olds it was 6.158 million viewers or 53.7 percent.
At the most recent Fifa World Cup, which was played from 14 June to 15 July 2018 in Russia, the opening Russia vs. Saudi Arabia match drew viewing participation averaging 10.058 million viewers (51.8 percent market share). Among 14 to 49 year olds viewership was 3.258 million on average, for a market share of 52.5%. The ARD broadcast from the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow started at 5 p.m..
Finals draw more excitement
The final game of the EURO 2016, with Portugal facing off against France in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis at 9:00 PM on 10 July 2016, reached viewing participation on ARD totalling 18.834 million (59.5 percent market share). Among 14 to 49 year olds it was 7.406 million (61.4 percent).
The final match of the Fifa World Cup 2018 saw the French and Croatian sides square off in Moscow in the Luzhniki Olympic Stadium. The broadcast on ZDF started at 5v p.m. and achieved a viewing participation of 21.446 million (76.0 percent) among total viewers and 7.693 (77.1 percent) among 14 to 49 year olds.
Matches with German teams are especially good draws
Across all games the Euro 2016 had average viewing participation of 11.741 million viewers age 3 and above (44.3 percent market share), while among 14 to 49 year olds it was 4.598 million (47.6 percent). However, matches with German participation had notably higher numbers, with an impressive per-game average of 27.710 million viewers (76.9 percent market share). Among 14 to 49 year olds it was 11.371 million (81.5 percent). In 2016 the German team played in six matches, on July 7 losing the semi-final against France. With 29.847 million viewers and a market share of 80.3%, this was the highest-viewership game of the entire tournament, and also pulled in 12.321 million 14 to 49 year old viewers (85.2%).
The numbers for the Fifa World Cup in 2018 were similarly high. On average the matches, which were held in Russia, drew viewing participation of 10.165 viewers (46.3 percent). Among 14 to 49 year olds it was 3.571 million (50.1 percent). Matches with German participation reached 26.317 million viewers (81.3 percent) in the total audience, and 10.170 million (86.2 percent) among younger viewers. However, that year the German team played only three games and was eliminated after the group phase for the first time in the history of the tournament.
Daily top 5 hit lists on agf.de
AGF shows the day’s five most successful TV broadcasts for the total audience and the adults 14-49 years target group, on each subsequent day starting at about 9:00 AM on https://www.agf.de/en/data/tv-data (data provisionally weighted).