TV viewership of La Liga jumps 48% after restart

BARCELONA • Spanish football's international viewing figures have increased by over 48 per cent since the season returned after a three-month break due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the league said yesterday.

Citing a study by analytics firm Nielsen Sports of the first round of matches on June 11, La Liga said its biggest audience bounce came in Africa, where it received a 73 per cent boost in viewers.

Viewing audiences increased by 72 per cent in Asia, while in Europe, audiences swelled by over 56 per cent, with the biggest spike (130 per cent) coming from Belgium, which cancelled its domestic season due to the pandemic.

Its domestic viewing figures experienced a more modest increase of 12 per cent.

The most popular match was Real Madrid's 3-1 win over Eibar, a league spokesman said, followed by Barcelona's 4-0 victory over Real Mallorca and Sevilla's 2-0 triumph over city rivals Real Betis, the first match since the season resumed.

"We feel privileged to be able to take to the field again, and we're very happy to have the opportunity to offer live sports entertainment at a time when there are few events like this around the world," said La Liga's president Javier Tebas.

Similarly, the German Bundesliga, the first of Europe's top five leagues to restart after the pandemic lockdown, also attracted record audiences in the United Kingdom in its first weekend back last month.

Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke increased their average viewership via BT Sport's coverage by a combined 800 per cent over the first four rounds of fixtures, according to Nielsen Sports. The remaining 15 clubs enjoyed a collective 409 per cent increase.

However, English fans' attention might waver now that the Premier League is back, according to Tom McCormack, UK Head of Rights Holders at Nielsen Sports.

Sky Sports reported that Manchester City's 3-0 win over Arsenal on Wednesday attracted 3.4 million viewers, a 94 per cent increase on the season's average audience.

"It's going to be interesting to see how consumption is distributed each week between the two competitions (Bundesliga and Premier League) and at what point the viewership regresses to pre-Covid levels, if it does," he said.

REUTERS

Spike in Asian TV audiences for Spanish La Liga matches.