EUROSPORT STRATEGY TO REACH WIDEST POSSIBLE AUDIENCES REAPS REWARDS FOR US OPEN

Boosted by local experts such as Grand Slam champions Boris Becker, Marion Bartoli and Conchita Martinez, Eurosport in Germany (+30%), France (+136%), Spain (22%) and Romania (+122%) all reported significant growth with Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2 registering an uplift of 25% and 37% respectively across the top 11 markets.

The weekend’s women’s and men’s finals contributed strongly to the final overall audience numbers. Serena Williams’ unsuccessful bid for a 24th Grand Slam singles title against eventual champion Bianca Andreescu saw a 28% year-on-year growth while Rafael Nadal’s nerve-jangling win over Daniil Medvedev was watched by the fourth largest audience ever in Spain. The same match saw average viewer numbers up by a remarkable 62% in comparison with the 2018 men’s singles final.

The upward trend continued across Eurosport’s digital platforms, with the Eurosport Player enjoying a 22% increase in video views and a 37% uplift in minutes watched versus 2018. Eurosport.com (web and app), meanwhile, reported year-on-year unique user increases in Spain (+41%), Italy (+24%), Russia (+19%), Germany (+11%), France (+7%) and Denmark (+61%).

Dave Schafer, SVP Sports Content, Operations & Planning said: “I’m thrilled to see Eurosport build on what has already been a fantastic year for our tennis coverage across all of our platforms. Following a record-breaking Roland-Garros, our direct-to-consumer strategy continues to resonate with fans across Europe, millions of whom engage with our content across all screens.

“With 2020 promising to be our biggest year ever, we will once again look to reinforce our ambition to power people’s passion for tennis by delivering the best experiences and content across all screens.”

At this year’s US Open, Eurosport’s programming - underpinned by popular flagship show Game, Schett & Mats and live coverage of every match on Eurosport, Eurosport Player and Eurosport.com - was supplemented by a host of short-form content including 60 Second Pro, New Kids On The Block as well as the brilliant two-part Tennis Legends vodcast starring Boris Becker, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander and John McEnroe.

In June, Eurosport reported a 31% year-on-year increase in unique views of Roland-Garros via it’s dedicated over-the-top (OTT) video streaming service, Eurosport Player, and the Eurosport app while Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2 also reported substantial year-on-year growth in the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, France, the United Kingdom and Norway.

*Excluding UK&Ireland
**Top 11 markets – Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden