Euro 2020 Final Viewership: More than 90 million fans viewed across western Europe

The Euro 2020 finals between England and Italy turned out to be an exciting clash with nail-biting moments, as a packed stadium and over 30 million viewers at home watched the game go down to the wire, with Italy coming out victorious after a penalty shootout. 

Public-service broadcaster the BBC and commercial broadcaster ITV pulled in the largest television audience in the UK since the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997.

The game at Wembley Stadium in London, which kicked off at 8 pm (BST), went to a penalty shootout, peaking at a combined audience of 30.95 million during the closing minutes of the encounter. 

The final also drew huge viewing interest in Italy, with a combined audience of over 20 million across free-to-air and television. BBC secured a comprehensive victory over ITV for its coverage, according to BARB figures.

The audience high during the penalties saw the BBC pull in around 25 million viewers, versus ITV’s figure of 6 million. Overall, BBC One’s coverage averaged 17.8 million viewers from 6.20 pm to 11.40 pm, while ITV averaged 4 million viewers from 6.30 pm to just before midnight. The numbers exclude those who watched the match on the broadcasters’ streaming services. The combined average audience in the UK was equal to an 82-per-cent market share.

M6, the French commercial broadcaster, pulled in an average audience of 11.8 million viewers (a 52.8-per-cent share) for last night’s final, according to figures from Médiamétrie. M6’s audience peaked at 13.9 million close to 11 pm (CET) and is the highest audience since 2018 for a match not involving the French national team. Pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports also aired the final in France.

In Germany, the match attracted an average of 20.9 million viewers and a 64.4-per-cent share on public broadcaster ZDF. The audience among 14 to 49-year-olds was 7.7 million (a 72.3-per-cent share).