Italy's Victory Over England Draws Record Euro Soccer Viewership To ESPN

The Euro 2020 Tournament was played in 2021 after facing a COVID-19 related pandemic delay. The tournament featuring the best soccer teams in Europe crowned Italy as the champion on Sunday.

What To Know: The Euro 2020 Final was the most viewed Euro tournament game ever in the U.S. with 6.49 million people watching Italy beat England in a penalty shootout on Walt Disney Co DIS-owned ESPN.

The final saw peak viewership of 8.2 million viewers in the U.S. during the penalty shootout. The match marked the most watched soccer game in the U.S. since the Women’s World Cup in 2019.

The Euro 2020 tournament had average viewership of 1.36 million for the 51 matches shown across Disney networks including ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.

Viewership for the Euro 2020 tournament was up 31% from the 2016 tournament.

Over 31 million people in the U.K. tuned in to watch the Euro 2020 Final, according to Deadline. BBC One had 25 million viewers and ITV had another 6 million. The total beat viewership of the 2012 London Olympic Opening Ceremony and Boris Johnson’s lockdown address to the country in March 2020.

Related Link: Black English Soccer Players Subjected To Racist Abuse After Team's Loss In Euro 2020 Finals

Why It’s Important: Disney continues to pay large amounts for sports streaming rights.

ESPN paid $1.4 billion in an eight-year deal for La Liga rights to bring games of the top scoccer league in Spain to ESPN, ABC and ESPN+.

 U.S. viewership for the Euro performed better than the majority of the 2018 World Cup matches, a tournament that the U.S. didn't qualify for.

Strong viewership and continued spending for top soccer content and rights by Disney could boost the demand for ESPN+.

DIS Price Action: Disney shares traded flat at $183.65 on Tuesday.