202 countries.Yes, that is right, 202 countries see Premiership matches. That is ten more than the total member nations of the UN. So how many people watched Saturday’s game between Arsenal and Man Utd? The Independent estimates 160 million people.
Up to six million people watched the match live in the UK, with an in-home peak on Sky of 3.4 million – high for pay TV – and an estimated two million more in 40,000 pubs and clubs. But it was also possible to watch live in 201 other countries. The Premier League has a global “reach” into 613 million homes, and estimates a typical live audience for a single match of around 79.5 million. With Sunday’s fixture such a pivotal occasion, featuring big clubs, it is estimated it could have drawn double that.
Just phenomenal.The Premiership is now the sports brand of the global game.
3 comments on “More countries see the Premiership than are in the UN”
Sven said in facing Sweden; that the Swedes knew English football; cause they’ve been getting the games, even since the ’60s.
at risk of being a spoil-sport here, i’m wondering how the Premiership came up with a total of 202 countries in the world!
could it be that in their zeal they might have counted non-nation states such as Wales, Scotland, Northern Irland, Puerto Rico, occupied Palestinian Territories etc, –on top of exceptional cases of non-UN members such as Taiwan?
Michele
I think it is based on the TV sports package that people buy from Setanta Sports, ESPN, and Sky Sports and their local affiliates in different countries. I think the 613 million homes is part of that projection. I still think it is an guesstimate and not as definitive as Nielsen ratings that provide us numbers on how many people watched an event. For e.g., 45 million people watched the AFC Championship between the Colts and the Pats. However, given the fact that there are many more who watch soccer especially high profile teams like Man Utd and Arsenal I won’t be surprised if the TV viewership is 3-4 times that of American football.
The Premiership is expected to earn a mindboggling 2.7 billion pounds from TV revenues alone.