Bell Media’s TSN announced Wednesday its coverage of the CONMEBOL Copa America 2024 and UEFA Euro 2024 soccer tournaments over the past four weeks reached a combined total of 18.7 million Canadians, or 48 per cent of Canada’s population, according to preliminary data from Numeris.
The CONMEBOL Copa America 2024 on TSN, its French-language counterpart RDS and CTV was a record-breaking tournament in Canada, Bell Media says, with the overall average audience up nearly 700 per cent compared to the 2021 tournament.
Sunday evening’s Copa America final, which saw Lionel Messi and Argentina win that country’s second consecutive Copa America championship, attracted an average audience of 1.45 million viewers on TSN, CTV and RDS, an increase of 144 per cent compared to the 2021 final. Overall, 4.4 million Canadians watched some or all of Sunday’s final, Bell Media says.
Canada Soccer’s men’s national team broke numerous viewership records during their historic run to a fourth-place finish at Copa America 2024. Canada’s semifinal against Argentina is the most-watched Copa America game on record in Canada, attracting an average audience of 2.8 million viewers. The Canadian team’s third-place game against Uruguay on Saturday evening, with an average audience of 1.9 million viewers, is the second-highest Copa America game on record. Their quarter-final win over Venezuela attracted an average audience of 1.7 million viewers, making it the third most-watched Copa America game in Canada.
The UEFA Euro 2024 tournament on TSN and CTV reached a total of 15 million unique Canadian viewers, a seven per cent increase compared to the previous tournament in 2021, with live streaming viewership up 64 per cent, according to Bell Media.
The UEFA Euro 2024 final on Sunday reached more than 4.6 million unique Canadian viewers, with audiences peaking at 2.6 million viewers during the final minutes of the match as Spain won against England with a dramatic clinching goal in the 86th minute. As Spain hoisted the Henri Delaunay Cup for a record fourth time, Sunday’s final attracted an average audience of 1.8 million viewers on TSN and CTV, Bell Media says.
On Sunday, Bell Media announced TSN and RDS have acquired the exclusive media rights to the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 tournament, scheduled for next July in Switzerland.
“It’s been a phenomenal month, with viewers all across Canada coming together to watch the Summer of Soccer on our Bell Media networks,” Shawn Redmond, vice president of Bell Media Sports, said in a press release. “As the Canadian men’s national team captivated the country with an inspiring run to the Third Place game in the COPA AMERICA tournament, and a spectacular EURO culminating with Spain being crowned champions, we witnessed record ratings and massive fan engagement across all platforms. We look forward to continuing this momentum with our complete coverage of next summer’s UEFA WOMEN’s EURO 2025.”
Bell Media says TSN’s official social media accounts attracted significant engagement around its “Summer of Soccer”, with 73 million video views and more than 368 million impressions across all platforms.
Photo courtesy of Bell Media
