The England Lionesses victory leads to a record 17.6 million viewers for the BBC

The England Lionesses’ historic victory at the 2022 European Women’s Football Championship has proved to be a viewership bonanza for the BBC.

England defeated eight-time champions Germany at London’s Wembley Stadium in the final on Sunday night, with Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly scoring for the winners. The game was played to a record crowd of 87,192.

The finale was broadcast on BBC One. The game drew an average of 11 million viewers and an audience share of 66%, with a peak of 17.6 million, according to overnights.tv.

The women #euro2022 final on BBC1, which started at 5pm, attracted an average audience of 11 million/66% and peaked at 17.6 million! Congratulations to the #lionesses to their victory over Germany! #uktvreviews

— overnights.tv (@overnightstv) August 1, 2022

The 17.6 million peak broke the previous record set just days earlier when England beat Sweden 4-0 in the semi-finals. This game peaked at 9.3 million on the BBC, averaging 7.9 million viewers. The other semi-final, in which Germany beat France 2-1, averaged 3.5 million viewers on the BBC, with a peak of 5.1 million.

England’s 2-1 quarter-final win over Spain drew an average audience of 7.6 million.

The other major sporting event attracting viewers to the BBC is the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The July 28 opening ceremony averaged 4.5 million viewers and peaked at 5.3 million.

There’s more to come.