The 2022 UEFA Women’s Euro final between England and Germany on July 31 managed to draw an average viewership of 971,000 on ESPN in the United States. This match has been recorded to be the most-watched football game on the network this year.
With 1.2 million viewers, the viewership hit its peak during the second half of extra time. The previous record was 732,000 for the men’s World Cup qualifying playoff final between Wales and Ukraine on ESPN on June 5.
The UEFA Women’s Euro final was also the highest-viewed women’s football match on ESPN networks since May 2015, when the United States defeated South Korea with a viewership of 998,000.
The contest drew 172,000 viewers in the United States overall, with the quarterfinals and semifinals drawing 320,000 and 326,000 viewers, respectively. Meanwhile, during the tournament, the European Broadcasting Union consortium of public-service broadcasters disclosed tally viewership for its representatives.
According to the Geneva-based body, EBU members broadcast more than 1,200 hours of live coverage during the competitions, attracting total viewers of further than 280 million people.
The BBC confirmed recently this week that its coverage of the final peaked at 17.4 million viewers, making it the most-viewed women’s football match ever on British television and the most-viewed TV programme of any genre in 2022. A total of 5.9 million streams of the game were recorded on the BBC iPlayer, as well as the BBC Sport website and app.
In Germany, ARD’s coverage of the final drew comparable peak viewers of 21.8 million, causing it the most-watched women’s football game in German history. The average viewing share for ARD was 64.8%.