The latest edition of El Clásico, the renowned derby between Real Madrid and Barcelona, has set new records in terms of viewership both domestically and globally.
Real Madrid triumphed over Barcelona with a 2-1 victory in a game that was marked by post-match chaos on the pitch and significant mid-match drama involving players like Pedri and Vinicius Jr. Despite these incidents, the game garnered an impressive 22.2% national audience share in Spain on broadcaster DAZN, attracting 2.95 million unique viewers, with an average of 2.31 million across its runtime.
DAZN also reported that this October 26 fixture was the "most engaging" event in its history for OTT coverage in Spain, showing a growth of streaming audience by 24% compared to last season's first El Clásico.
Record-breaking streaming hours
The day also marked the highest number of overall hours streamed (3.1 million) in DAZN's history in Spain as it broadcasted not only El Clásico but also Formula 1, MotoGP, and other Spanish soccer action simultaneously.
In addition to smashing viewership records, El Clásico broke DAZN's record for single-game advertising sales with a sell-through rate of 100%, accompanied by a substantial increase of brand visibility by up to 28%. This performance is particularly noteworthy considering it is the first El Clásico match this season without any significant title race implications or being a cup final.
El Clasico's popularity is not confined to Spain, it has a strong international viewership as well. In France, the match was broadcasted on BeIN Sports and reported an average viewership of approximately 730,000 which peaked at 935,000. Meanwhile in Italy, the game was aired on Mediaset-owned free-to-air network Italia 1 and managed to attract a total of 1.23 million viewers.
Global impact
Globally, the fixture has become one of the most-watched soccer matches ever. Estimates suggest that the game drew a global audience of over 600 million across more than 180 territories worldwide.
LaLiga's extensive range of free-to-air and pay-TV distribution contributes significantly to this massive number. The league has made considerable efforts to promote its marquee rivalry, even launching a LaLiga-specific partnership with Walmart in the US.
The next edition of El Clásico in LaLiga is scheduled for May 9-10, 2026. However, there are two potential meetings before then - in the Copa del Rey knockout cup competition and the Supercopa de España super cup mini-tournament set to take place in Saudi Arabia this coming January. El Clásico continues to be an event that captures global attention and breaks records both domestically and internationally.
