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LONDON. — The BBC have confirmed a peak audience of 17.4 million watched England’s Lionesses success over Germany in the women’s European Championship football final alongside an additional 5.9m on streaming services.

The Lionesses defeated Germany 2-1 in extra-time to win their first Euros at a jubilant, sold-out Wembley Stadium on Sunday evening. A record crowd of 87 192 watched the game at Wembley Stadium.

It was the side’s first ever major trophy and its TV audience reflected the booming interest in women’s football both in the UK and further afield. The BBC figures do not include those who watched the final using the in public spaces such as pubs or fanzones. The TV audience was even higher in Germany, where an average of 17.9million viewers watched the show-piece event. That is around 5.7 million more than watched their nation’s semi-final victory against France on Wednesday, as confirmed by German media. The figures almost doubled the numbers that tuned in to watch England’s semi-final victory over Sweden on Tuesday — a match which attracted a peak audience of 9.3million viewers on the BBC. That was already among the most-watched television broadcasts of the year. Sunday’s figures show the huge popularity of women’s football and for football that is broadcast on terrestrial TV. It eclipsed figures from last year’s English Premier League matches broadcast on Sky Sports, with a 3.65 million average tuning in to watch Liverpool’s five-goal victory over Manchester United on the subscription broadcaster last October — the highest of the campaign.

Compared to other sporting events, the BBC’s live coverage of the world athletics championships peaked at 1.3 million last month, while July’s Twenty20 international cricket match between India and England attracted a peak audience of 980 000, despite being on BBC Two. BBC Director General Tim Davie said of the figures: “We are incredibly proud to have championed women’s football and are thrilled we were able to bring such a special sporting moment to the public.

“This was the most-watched women’s football game on UK television of all-time and the most-watched programme in 2022 so far – and deservedly so. Everyone at the BBC is delighted at the win and being able to share that with the public.” The German TV figures set a new record in the country for women’s football; breaking the 17million figure that watched the nation’s elimination during the 2011 World Cup quarter finals — when they were the host nation of the tournament, with high interest levels. In Germany, the TV market share for the total audience was a stunning 64.8 percent, with the numbers at their highest among the age bracket of 14 to 49 year olds — with 71 percent of that portion of the population choosing the final to watch. In Germany, the figures which watched Sunday’s final was comparable to last summer’s men’s European Championships final between England and Italy – which was watched by a total of 20.9million viewers. — The Mirror