England vs. Italy Sets UEFA European Football Championship Record for ESPN Deportes; Audience on ESPN Digital Platforms Surges

Last Sunday’s UEFA EURO 2012 quarterfinal match between Italy and England, a 0-0 tie won by Italy 4-2 in a penalty-kick shootout, on ESPN was seen by an average of 2.968 million viewers, bigger than any UEFA European Football Championship match in 2012 or 2008, except the 2008 final on ABC (3.760 million for Germany vs. Spain).

The four UEFA EURO 2012 quarterfinal matches (June 21–24) delivered an average of 1.463 million television households and 1.918 million viewers – up 31 percent in both households (1.116 million) and viewers (1.459 million) compared to the quarterfinal round in 2008.

Audiences for UEFA EURO 2012 and 2008 quarterfinals matches:

Through 28 matches (group stage and quarterfinals) of the UEFA European Football Championship 2012, ESPN’s live English-language presentation is averaging 889,000 households and 1,144,000 viewers — up 61 percent and 63 percent, respectively, versus the same 28 matches in 2008 (552,000 households and 703,000 viewers).

The top 10 metered markets through the group stage include: New York (1.9), Miami-Ft. Lauderdale (1.8), Providence (1.5), Los Angeles (1.3), Washington, DC (1.3), San Francisco (1.2), Richmond, Va. (1.2), Atlanta (1.2), Austin, Texas (1.2), and San Diego (1.1).

ESPN Deportes:

Last Sunday’s England vs. Italy on ESPN Deportes was viewed by an average of 424,000 Hispanic household, based on an 8.1 Hispanic household coverage rating, making it the most-watched UEFA European Football Championship match on the 24-hour Spanish-language sports network.  The telecast beat the network’s previous high – UEFA EURO 2008 final between Germany and Spain with 357,000 Hispanic household impressions.

On ESPN Deportes, the quarterfinals averaged a 5.5 Hispanic household coverage rating with 287,000 Hispanic household impressions – up 57 percent and 133 percent from 2008 respectively.  (In 2008, ESPN Deportes televised one of the four quarterfinal matches on delay.)

Through the 24 live matches in 2012, ESPN Deportes has delivered an average 3.5 Hispanic household coverage rating with 184,000 Hispanic HH impressions – up 46 percent and 117 percent respectively.  UEFA EURO 2012 news and information programming has also delivered strong ratings: Fuera de Juego Euro Edition has aired 42 live telecasts, averaging a 1.3 Hispanic household coverage rating with 68,000 Hispanic household impressions.

ESPN Digital Platforms:

From June 21-24, through four days of EURO 2012 quarterfinals play, ESPNFC.com and ESPNsoccernet.com globally averaged 878,000 daily visitors, 3.1 million page views per day and 10.2 million minutes per day (source: Adobe/Omniture).  Compared to ESPNsoccernet.com during the same time period for EURO 2008, the site is up 24 percent, 13 percent and 132 percent, respectively.  In total, ESPNFC.com, ESPNsoccernet.com and ESPNdeportes.com generated 13.3 million total page views during the quarterfinals, up 14.6 percent compared to EURO 2008.

Mobile coverage of the EURO 2012 quarterfinals across ESPNFC, ESPNsoccernet and ESPNdeportes mobile Web sites as well as the ESPNsoccernet app for iPhone and Android logged an average of 1.4 million page views per day, up 238 percent compared to EURO 2008.

Through the quarterfinals (June 8-24) across computers, smartphones, tablets and Xbox, ESPN3 and WatchESPN has logged an average minute audience of 83,607 per match and a total of 344.7 million live minutes to both English and Spanish language feeds.  On computers alone, there were a total of 2.1 million unique viewers.  Additionally, fans consumed 300.2 million live minutes on computers, up 688 percent compared to EURO 2008.

The England vs. Italy quarterfinal took the top spot as the new most watched match of the tournament thus far on ESPN3 and WatchESPN, logging 422,000 unique viewers, 27.8 million live minutes and an average minute audience of 147,745.

UEFA EURO 2012 Semifinals and Final on ESPN Networks

ESPN’s comprehensive presentation of UEFA European Football Championship 2012 in English and Spanish will continue Wednesday, June 27, and Thursday, June 28, with the semifinals, and conclude Sunday, July 1, with the title match live from Olympic Stadium in Kiev, Ukraine.  Schedule (Subject to change):

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