The Women’s Euros final is already the UK’s most-watched TV moment of the year – despite only some of the viewing figures for the match being released.
The BBC said a peak live audience of 12.2 million watched England’s historic back-to-back victory on Sunday evening across all BBC platforms.
But the match against Spain was also simulcast on ITV, which says it recorded a peak of 4.2million viewers across both traditional broadcast and streaming on ITVX.
In all, a total of 16.2million watched the nail-biting final at its peak – surpassing the record 14.4million who watched England’s last major final, the 2023 Fifa World Cup, was then a record for a Women’s World Cup final.
However, it is some way off of the 17.4million who tuned in to watch the 2022 European final, which saw England triumph over Germany 2-1.
The BBC said 11.6million people watched the match on BBC One at its peak – around 59 per cent of all TV audiences at the time.
And a total of 4.2million streams of the match were played online via BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app – with the 12.2million figure a combined peak across both TV and streaming.
An average of 12million people watched the match from start to finish, the broadcasters said today.
A peak live audience of 12.2million people watched the Women’s Euro final on the BBC – with the total set to be topped up with ITV viewers (pictured: fans watching at Boxpark Croydon)
England narrowly triumphed on penalties against Spain after finding a 1-1 equaliser in the second half
The final is already the most-watched TV moment of the year despite only partial viewing figures being available (pictured: fans watching at Boxpark Croydon)
The Lionesses edged their way to a narrow victory on penalties against Spain after clawing their way back to a 1-1 draw in the second half.
In a promising sign that the tournament could be inspiring the Lionesses of tomorrow, around 20 per cent of those who watched BBC coverage of the tournament online were aged between 16 and 35.
Lucy Bronze strapping her own leg in the quarter final against Sweden was the most viewed clip from the tournament, the broadcaster said.
She admitted after the final that she had been playing with a broken tibia for the entire tournament – living up to her middle name of Tough.
Alex Kay-Jelski, director of BBC Sport said: “This final was a landmark moment in sporting history: the kind of moment people will remember exactly where they were when they watched it.
‘The incredible Lionesses took us on an emotional rollercoaster, and millions were hooked…from start to finish.’
BBC Sport and ITV have also jointly secured the rights to broadcast the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027, ensuring that the biggest tournament in women’s football remains free-to-air for UK audiences.
ITV has committed to screening all of England’s qualifiers and friendlies across its network on ITV1, ITV4 and ITVX.
