BeIN Sports France, the French pay-television operator, has achieved its highest-ever audience for a UEFA European Championship with its coverage of the national teams soccer tournament thus far.
Through the group stages and last-16 of the competition, the broadcaster has attracted 17.3 million viewers on its BeIN Sports 1 channel.
BeIN’s largest audience came in England’s dramatic 2-1 extra-time win over Slovakia in the round of 16, where an average of 1.03 million tuned in and a peak of almost 1.5 million.
This represented a record audience for a UEFA Euro match on BeIN Sports that didn’t feature the French national team.
BeIN aired three matches from the last-16, with 879,000 average viewers watching Switzerland’s 2-0 win over Italy and a peak of 1,110,000, while the Netherlands’ 3-0 victory over Romania drew in 758,000 viewers on average, peaking at 974,000.
The Qatar-based broadcaster’s only live coverage of a France match was the country’s 0-0 draw with the Netherlands in the group stage which was seen by an average of 725,000 viewers. This was up compared to BeIN’s coverage of France at Euro 2020.
France’s three other matches at Euro 2024 have been shown on TF1, with the public-service broadcaster attracting 11 million viewers for their 1-0 last-16 win over Belgium on Monday.
The biggest audience for a France match was 11.2 million for their 1-0 victory over Austria in the opening game on TF1, while the 1-1 draw with Poland drew in 9.3 million.
BeIN has broadcast three matches from the group stage, with the biggest audience tuning in for Spain’s 3-0 win over Croatia, averaging 893,000 viewers and peaking at 1.09 million.
Portugal’s 3-0 victory against Turkey was watched by 872,000 (1.1 million peak) and the Netherlands’ 2-1 win over Poland drew 833,000 viewers (1.08 million peak).
BeIN has rights to show 26 of the 51 Euro 2024 matches in France, including all quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final, which it will cover simultaneously with TF1.
The quarter-finals of the tournament will begin on Friday (July 5), with hosts Germany taking on Spain in the first match-up, followed by France vs Portugal.
The other quarter-final ties will see England face Switzerland and the Netherlands take on Turkey on Saturday.
