Champions League tops Super Bowl for first time 01/02/2010 |
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The Champions League Final has replaced the Super Bowl as the most watched annual sports event for the first time.
A survey by Initiative Futures Sports and Entertainment found that the Champions League Final between Barcelona and Manchester United in May last year drew an average audience of 109 million, while the Super Bowl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals in February attracted three million less.
In terms of 'total audience' – the amount of people who watched part of the event – the difference was larger, with the Champions League pulling in 206 million throughout the game and the Super Bowl 162 million.
"The Champions League has been better able to exploit the large burgeoning populations of the Asia-Pacific region," said Kevin Alavay, the report's director, who pointed out that the Super Bowl’s audience was largely domestic.
"While the Super Bowl has secured free-to-air broadcasting deals in a number of important European markets such as the UK, France and Germany, its distribution and popularity in the key Asia-Pacific region lags far behind the Champions League," added the report.
Formula 1's Bahrain Grand Prix was in third place with an average of 54 million viewers, while the men's 100 metre final from the Athletics World Championships was fourth with 33 million.
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