Rights holders smash US audience mark for Champions League final

With both the English- and Spanish-language rights holders setting viewership marks, the Champions League final on May 28 shattered the U.S. audience record for the competition.

Paramount Global's CBS (US), TelevisaUnivision Inc.'s broadcaster Univision (US) and cable sports network TUDN (US) combined to average 5.36 million viewers for their coverage of Real Madrid's 1-0 win over Liverpool, according to data from Nielsen Holdings PLC.

Together, the three networks easily surpassed the previous mark of 4.15 million registered by FOX (US) and FOX Deportes (US) for their presentation of the 2011 final between Barcelona and Manchester United. The delivery was 47% above the 3.65 million who watched Chelsea top Manchester City in the 2021 final.

CBS led the way with 2.76 million watchers on May 28, while the simulcast coverage on Univision and TUDN netted 2.6 million watchers on average.

The figures do not include viewership of Real Madrid and Liverpool on Paramount+, which its parent company said tallied a triple-digit gain over 2021 in becoming the service's most-streamed soccer match.

CBS broadcast 14 Champions League matches from the Round of 16 through the final. Those games averaged 957,000 viewers, making it the most-watched Champions League competition on English-language TV in the U.S., exceeding the 581,000 average for 17 matches on FOX and FX in 2015.

Boosted by the four most-streamed soccer matches in terms of average-minute audience, Paramount+ netted double-digit year-over-year growth across the 2021-2022 season relative to the average-minute audience, streaming minutes and households from the prior campaign.

The final was also streamed on TelevisaUnivision's free ad-supported service ViX, which launched March 31.

TelevisaUnivision said it scored the most-watched Champions League campaign, averaging 624,000 viewers and 293,000 viewers in the 18 to 49 demographic. Those numbers represent gains of 16% and 6%, respectively, from the 2020-21 cycle.

CBS Sports and TelevisaUnivision hold Champions League rights in the U.S. through the 2023-24 cycle.