No surprise really, but the first leg of the Real Madrid-PSG Champions League Round of 16 matchup was a huge success for broadcasters as the two-time defending champions rallied for a 3-1 victory on Wednesday in Madrid. As the numbers from the Real Madrid-PSG TV ratings begin to trickle in, we’re beginning to learn just how big of a deal the match was for countries around the world, especially those without a team in the fight.
Obviously the match was always going to draw well in Spain and France, with the immensely wealthy capital-city clubs on show. Before the match, Parisians marched through the streets and subways of Madrid. But the Real Madrid-PSG TV ratings from elsewhere in Europe and overseas were perhaps most impressive.
We’ll start in Italy, where there is no apparent lack of interest in football despite the national team failing to qualify for the World Cup. Even though just one Italian player was involved in the match, the early reports show 5.3 million people watched on free-to-air TV — that’s nearly 9 percent of the population. That ratio was nearly identical in Belgium, where 530,000 watched in Dutch and 395,000 watched in French.
Toni Kroos and Marco Verratti were two of the only players representing countries that had huge Real Madrid-PSG TV ratings. Photo: @MysticalKrooss | Twitter
In Germany, which had a couple players involved, 6.78 million people watched the match — a 22.2 percent market share. In comparison, last year the Bayern Munich-Arsenal match in this round drew 8.1 million viewers in Germany. Also, a Friday night Bundesliga match between Borussia Monchengladbach and Hamburg in December drew 4.4 million viewers.
Outside of Europe, the Real Madrid-PSG TV ratings from Brazil were massive, with the country heavily focused on a match that included at least four likely World Cup players, including the mercurial Neymar.
Rede Globo broadcasted the match in Brazil and unsurprusingly the audience was huge. Between Globo and Bandeirantes it's gotten over 33 in audience rating and more than 50 in share. This is just free-to-air TV, in cable Esporte Interativo also led the audience.
— Ricardo (@riamari87) February 15, 2018
The match was so anticipated in Brazil that the hours of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro were changed so Brazilians could enjoy both events.
Plenty of Brazilians added to the Real Madrid-PSG TV ratings. Photo: @kaka_afridi | Twitter
The complete Real Madrid-PSG TV ratings are still to be tallied, with numbers from Spain, France and the U.S. not yet available. Numbers in the UK will be low because the Liverpool-Porto match was the primary focus on British TVs.
With Los Blancos taking a two-goal advantage to Paris for the return leg on March 6, it will be interesting to see if the Real Madrid-PSG TV ratings rise or dip. Neymar overcame an even greater deficit last year when he helped Barcelona edge PSG, so perhaps the Brazilian can spur his side to victory once again.
The18 Recommends For You
