An estimated 650 million television viewers worldwide watched the Man City-Man United blockbuster at Etihad Stadium yesterday, City’s home ground.
A staggering stat for a club game, which Man City won 1-0 to edge in front of their bitter rivals on top of the EPL table with just two rounds to go.
City hasn’t won the title for 44 long years, while United has worn the crown for 12 of the 26 years Sir Alex Ferguson has been in charge.
Taking the 650 million as read, as there are no foolproof methods of accuracy, that makes a club game the world record holder of viewers for a non-international sporting event.
And that’s significant.
The most viewed sporting event in history during a multi-day event is the 4.7 billion who watched the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games at some stage, the equivalent of 70% of the world’s population.
An estimated 984 million watched the opening ceremony in Beijing, and 778 million took in the closing ceremony – both records for a daily international sporting event.
The 2006 FIFA World Cup final between Italy and France is next in the pecking order of television viewers with 715 million.
Then the Manchester intra-city shootout with 650 million.
And surprisingly, cricket gets a look-in with the final of the 2011 World Cup between India and Pakistan with 400 million. Although it would be safe to say the figure wouldn’t be nearly so high had India failed to reach the decider.
To put sport in perspective to world events, the live Elvis Presley “Aloha from Hawaii” program in 1973 and the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton last year both attracted a billion viewers.
The Prince Charles-Diana wedding 900 million viewers, the Diana funeral 850 million, while the Michael Jackson memorial service attracted 800 million.
And the first walking on the moon by Neil Armstrong 530 million – a staggering stat for as long ago as 1969 which was 14% of the world’s population at the time with far fewer television sets.
The Australian sporting television audience record is the 4.05 million who watched the Lleyton Hewitt-Marat Safin final of the 2005 Australian Open.
Next best the final of the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Sydney between the Wallabies and England with 4.02 million, and the 3.56 million watching the 2006 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Melbourne.
The next two were successive AFL grand finals – in 2005 between the Sydney Swans and West Coast Eagles (3.39 million) and the Eagles-Swans decider in 2006 with 3.14 million.
It all goes to prove sporting television has not only improved dramatically and technically, but the worldwide coverage has become blanket. And invariably live.
Let’s face it, sport gives a whole lot more pleasure and excitement than news coverage.
Imran Ali
Guest
Bull and factually wrong. In both of the last two cricket world cups, the match between India and Pakistan was watched by 1 BILLION people, which is the world record. Here is the source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/cricket-world-cup/11413995/India-beat-Pakistan-by-76-runs-as-estimated-one-billion-viewers-tune-in-to-World-Cup-clash.html#disqus_thread http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2011/mar/30/india-pakistan-ultimate-cricket-derby
Davo
Guest
a total of 26 billion viewiers watched the 2010 world cup, according to the official wikipedia page for the event There was somewhere between 600 and 700 million who watched the Barcelona v Manchester United Champions league in 2011. There was also 400 million watching the 2011 Asian cup final between Japan and Australia Football rules global tv audiences i'm afriad
Fabio
Guest
Soccer is massive in Bengal state
David Heidelberg
Guest
I live in the MIddle East, and even though Spanish football is more popular here EVERYONE was watching this match. It is the World game, and if some of these bogan GayFL and NRL fans had been further than Bali they might understand. And only 12 million watched India in a World Cup Final? What drugs are you on? Ten times as many people would have watched in India alone.
Bondy
Guest
Very much so .
Titus
Guest
TC--why do you take so much interest in AFL competitions around the world? Yeah, yeah, I know because it's our game and we should all be proud of it. Truth is my game is Football, Socca Football, and my interest in the game doesn't just stop at our borders. Me going into bat for the EPL is no different to you going into bat for the Danish AFL league.
MV Dave
Guest
Why aren't you listening?...private enterprise is how we and most of the world go about business...unless you're interested in the North Korean model? Cheer leading? Isn't this thread about the world wide tv audience for an EPL match? Surely some facts about o/s tv rights would add to the discussion? Cheer leading is probably better defined when you carry on about the AFL.
Eric Fitton
Guest
sorry, i meant football as a whole the attnetion it deserves not the premier league.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Why is it humiliating for the people of Singapore? Is it humiliating for the Australian TV industry when Australian TV broadcasters spend a lot more to purchase the latest drama series from the US than to purchase a drama series made in Australia? Is it humiliating for the Australian music industry that Aussies spend far more money on an o/s musician's concert than a local musician's concert? Is it humiliating to the Australian car industry if I decide to buy a BMW rather than a Holden? My gosh - that's such insular & protectionist thinking I'm truly staggered.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Titus Australian ratings for our domestic sports competitions are especially significant to most of us because: a. that's what most of us follow above all else; and b. a large chunk of the revenue of those competitions is determined by that. But whether 23 million or 650 million watched a game played on the other side of the world has some curiosity value for Australian sports fans, but surely no more? It's not really the sort of thing I expect an Australian sports fan to go in and bat for, so to speak, as we're seeing on this thread.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
What do you mean: the attention it deserves? Why does a foreign competition from the other side of the world warrant a lot of attention? 76k watched it on Fox, a good figure, but hardly the sort of figure that is going to get the local media dropping everything to favour it. Or is your thesis that media give more attention to soccer leagues in Europe, and the support will follow thereafter? That's a very strange view of how things work in reality.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Read the whole thread - it's obviously ridiculous!!
The Cattery
Roar Guru
You think it's a ridiculous post, and I think it's ridiculous that a tiny country would plonk $100 million into a foreign competiion on the other side of the world, with pretty much nothing being plonked into local sport. It's humiliating for the people of Singapore. And what I dont' get is why you are cheerleading the fact that Singapore wants to pay big money to the EPL at the expense of their own domestic competitions? Why do you both draw satisfaction from that? I don't get it.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Yes, I'm impressed - as I said: a tiny country, hopeless at sports, plonking $100 million into a foreign competition's coffers, how much money is getting invested into local sport? Next to nothing. Sure, supply and demand, but it's humiliating for the people of Singapore that it's come to this.
Eric Fitton
Guest
i have travelled quite extensively and everywhere i go what are they talking about, you guessed it the Premier League. it is even growing more and more popular in Australia, football will catch on one day when the media start to give it the attention it deserves just as the rest of the worlds media does.
Eric Fitton
Guest
why is it ridiculous, cant you understand how popular it is, you are quite wrong, it really is that popular, every single household in England would watch, not just supporters of the 2 clubs, it's a fact, get over it, thats why it is called the most popular league in the world. I get up and watch every premier league game that is shown on tv no matter who is playing, thats how good it is.
Axelv
Guest
I don't understand why the debate on the figures is even important? 650 million seems a bit much, but hey a lot of people would have watched it. My brother worked in Zambia for a few years, people crowd around a satellite tv and watch the EPL every week. African players in the EPL such as Drogba are seen as hero's. Football is massive over there. This is a global reach, not just England, Europe, America and Australia, it is massive in Asia, Africa, Middle East and South America. I'm sure there are even some Russian scientists in Antarctica watching it ;)
The Great G Nepia
Guest
The idea that 650 million people would be sitting down around the world to watch a soccer game from england is utterly ridiculous. I know the epl is popular, but its not that popular. They must be saying the game has a potential reach of 650 million.
UK Steve
Guest
What is strange is this statement "Football is the most popular game everywhere in the world except Australia". You really should travel a bit and broaden your mind.
langou
Roar Guru
There was 100 at the Pig and Whistle, Brisbane