Top-class events such as The Championships from Wimbledon, the Tour de France and Roland Garros, featuring some of the biggest names in sport, have captured the imagination of fans in Europe contributing to a yearly viewing figure on the Eurosport Network which is up 14% on the same period last year.

After Eurosport announced earlier this year that every minute of every stage would be broadcast live, the first nine days of this year’s Tour de France has seen an average of 699,000 viewers watch the event in ten of Europe’s biggest markets (Germany, Poland, Romania, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Italy and Spain), an increase of 4% versus 2016. Substantial growth in average audience numbers were recorded in Germany (+18%), Italy (31%) and Norway (+347%).

Remarkably, there has been a 38% uplift in the total number of minutes viewed compared with 2016, with 1.5 billion minutes of action watched on Eurosport’s channels up to and including ninth stage between Nantua and Chambery.*

Fans have also been following the action on Eurosport’s digital platforms more than ever before. Up to and including the tenth stage of this year’s Tour de France, a total of 4.4m visitors (+63% vs 2016) have contributed to an incredible 26.9m page views so far, an increase of 74% versus the same stage in 2016.

Now broadcasting The Championships in a record 36 countries across Europe, Eurosport’s audience numbers have surged favourably to build on a record-breaking Roland Garros over the first week of action from Wimbledon.

Romania (+3% on Eurosport 1 and +92% on Eurosport 2), Netherlands (+40%), Sweden (+251%) and Norway (+165%) have all enjoyed substantial growth compared with this year’s Roland Garros.*

Local heroes have played a significant part in the highest ratings recorded by market to date, with Simona Halep’s fourth round victory over Victoria Azarenka the most watched match so far at this year’s Wimbledon on Eurosport. 377,000 viewers tuned in to watch the match on Eurosport 1 Romania on Monday. Halep’s third round win over China’s Peng Shuai was the next most watched match overall in a single country (248,000 viewers on Eurosport 2).*

In June, Eurosport announced it had recorded year-on-year growth of 18% for its coverage of this year’s Roland Garros, with huge increases reported in Denmark (+123), Spain (+60%) and Romania (47%).*

Eurosport CEO Peter Hutton said: “Eurosport continues to defy industry assumptions that viewing figures for sporting events and matches are declining. We believe that if you deliver fans a high-quality product across TV, OTT and online platforms, they will return every time.  

“Cycling and tennis are two sports that have extremely passionate fan bases – they are fans that love to support the sport they themselves love. We at Eurosport understand this passion and are always looking to enhance our coverage of both sports. For example, we are showing every minute of every stage from the Tour de France for the first time in 2017 while we see it as a privilege to broadcast a tournament such as Wimbledon to more markets than ever before.

“When you consider we have football, swimming, athletics as well as the fourth Grand Slam of the year from Flushing Meadow over the next two months, Eurosport continues to be the go-to network for fans to enjoy premium sporting content.”

Eurosport’s sizzling summer of sport continues in July and into August with live coverage of every match from UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 from the Netherlands, FINA World Swimming Championships from Budapest as well as the IAAF World Athletics Championships from London.

*Excludes Eurosport Player audiences

ENDS.