Americans tuning into Euros in record numbers
Reuters - Thursday 21 June 2012, 09:01
Almost twice as many Americans are
watching the European Championship compared to four years
ago according to data released by tournament broadcaster ESPN.
The 24 games in the group stage of Euro 2012 averaged just
over one million viewers compared to 552,000 for Euro 2008 - the
latest sign of the impressive growth of interest in
international soccer in the U.S.
The most-watched match in the group stage was the 1-1 draw
between Spain and Italy on Sunday, June 10 which pulled in an
average audience of 2.113 million viewers, bigger than for any
game four years ago except the final.
The quarter-finals begin on Thursday with the Czech Republic
v Portugal but ESPN will hope for their biggest numbers so far
at the weekend when Spain face France and England take on Italy.
The games from the tournament staged in Poland and Ukraine
are being broadcast during the afternoon on the U.S. East Coast
and the biggest audiences have been in New York and the
Miami-Fort Lauderdale area.
ESPN said figures for their digital and Spanish-language
products had also risen sharply.
The network's coverage of the World Cup two years ago set
new highs including a 15.5 million audience for the final
between Spain and the Netherlands in South Africa.
The U.S. has traditionally been one of the weakest markets
for international soccer but the game is increasingly popular
among a young demographic and in the growing Hispanic community.