The UEFA European Championship 2024 has kicked off with a bang, drawing significant viewership across the continent. The opening match of France vs Austria was watched by over 11 million people on the commercial network TF1, marking a strong start to the tournament.
The game secured a substantial audience share of 47.6% in France. However, this figure fell short compared to France's first game of Euro 2020 (played in 2021), which drew an impressive audience of over 15 million viewers and a market share of approximately 57.6% on M6 network.
Despite this drop, the viewership for the France match against Austria match aligns with an ongoing trend of high interest across Europe’s top soccer nations for the opening round fixtures at Euro tournaments.
High expectations from pre-tournament favourites
As one of the pre-tournament favorites, there are high expectations from team France to make a deep run into this championship. This anticipation could potentially boost viewership numbers even further as stakes rise throughout the tournament.
TF1 has historically performed well in sports broadcast viewership. In fact, its largest audience came in when it attracted around 16.5 million people who tuned in to watch hosts France end their Rugby World Cup run against defending champions South Africa back in 2023.
Viewership across Europe
In Germany, host nation for Euro 2024, an average domestic audience of about 22.5 million watched their national team secure a decisive victory over Scotland on public-service broadcaster ZDF - representing an impressive market share of nearly 69%.
Meanwhile in UK , ITV reported peak figures at 10.9 million viewers during Germany match against Scotland - making it highest peak figure for any tournament opener since World Cup 2014 on either ITV or BBC platforms. Scotland's commercial free-to-air broadcaster, STV, reported an average viewership of 1.79 million and a peak audience of 1.38 million.
England's opening match against Serbia also drew significant attention with an average viewership of 10.5 million and a peak figure reaching up to 15 million – representing a market share of around 60%. The match was also streamed over 3.5 million times on the BBC iPlayer platform.
The UEFA European Championship 2024 has started on a high note with strong viewership figures across Europe’s top soccer nations. As the tournament progresses and stakes rise, these numbers are expected to grow even further - making it an exciting time for sports fans and sports betting enthusiasts alike.
