UEFA EURO 2020 impresses with 5.2 billion cumulative global live audience

UEFA EURO 2020 acted as a timely reminder of the importance major sport plays in delivering those special, but increasingly infrequent, mass appointment-to-view moments. The first major sporting event to be staged since the world was paused by the global pandemic, UEFA EURO 2020 has emerged successful.

Having dominated viewer ratings throughout the months of June and July 2021, the eagerly awaited tournament left its mark in viewership history, landing audiences that rank amongst the most viewed moments of all time and breaking live streaming records along the way.

Key global figures:

• Live match cumulative event audience: 5.2 billion

• Live average audience for the final: 328 million

• Live average match audience: 100 million+

• Live unique reach of 1.9 billion

• Number of territories: 229

• Number of broadcasters: 137

The event cumulative live match audience recorded 5.23 billion. The final was watched by 328 million fans, on par with the record set in 2016. The match between Italy and England at the iconic Wembley stadium was the most-watched TV event in the United Kingdom in 24 years and in Italy since 2012. The match set all-time streaming records for any type of programming in both countries.

UEFA marketing director, Guy-Laurent Epstein, said: "The incredible TV audience figures show the massive appeal that EURO has, not only in Europe but worldwide. The tournament has a global audience which continues to grow, in particular in North America and Asia, where the fan base following EURO keeps expanding. We also note that there is an ever-increasing number of fans accessing matches through streaming services."

On average each live match was watched by over 100 million viewers. There has been an impressive increase in viewership in important global markets such as China, where a growth rate of 43% has been registered compared to 2016, with a cumulative audience of 352 million. The event saw more Chinese fans accessing matches through streaming services than through traditional TV. In the USA, audiences grew by 32% with a cumulative TV audience of 87 million. India registered a growth rate of 229%, and a cumulative audience of 107 million.

Most digital EURO ever

On social media, this was the most engaged EURO ever. There were 7.5 billion interactions and views of which two billion were generated by official UEFA accounts.

Guy-Laurent Epstein said: "Digitally, we have seen incredible engagement during the tournament, and we are extremely satisfied with the performance of our own UEFA platforms. The UEFA.com website and application has seen a 250% increase in traffic compared to 2016. It shows that our content offer has been extremely well received by fans and that our digital set-up is amazing."

The top post generated 59 million video views on TikTok alone. The top match on social media was the final with 397 million interactions and views, more than double the amount for any other match in the tournament.