Out of the big five markets, matches from the rugby union’s World Cup were the most watched events in France and the UK. France’s semi-final against England drew 18.3 million viewers, the biggest sports audience in any of the 17 countries surveyed. In Germany, the final of the men’s World Handball Championship drew the top audience of the year (16.2 million), and the highest non-football sports audience for over a decade.
Handball also accounted for the top sports audiences in the sport’s strongholds of Denmark and Norway.

Elsewhere in Europe, winter sports attracted the top audiences in a number of markets. In Finland, the ice hockey World Championship was No.1, in the Netherlands World Championship speed skating and in Sweden, Switzerland and Slovenia skiing drew the best audiences.
Champions League football did however attract the top audiences in Italy and Spain, with Formula One accounting for the second highest audiences in both markets.

In 2006, the year in which Germany hosted the football World Cup, in 80 per cent of the countries surveyed, the most watched sports event was a football match. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, those audiences for football were much higher than the top audiences in 2007, proving yet again that football, and particularly international tournaments, has a unique pulling power for broadcasters.

To purchase a copy of the TV Sports Markets survey, which includes the most watched sports events in 17 different European markets, please contact Ben Speight (ben@tvsportsmarkets.com).