Latest news with #UEFAWomensEuros
Yahoo
01-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Women's Euro 2025 final draws 1.35 million viewers, breaks U.S. audience record
Fox's bold investment in women's soccer paid off. The network's broadcast of the UEFA Women's Euros final between England and Spain ranked as the most-watched women's soccer game in English-language U.S. television history, drawing 1.35 million viewers. The network reported that Sunday's viewership was up 53 percent from the 2022 final between England and Germany, which drew 885,000 viewers and aired on ESPN. Sunday's telecast peaked in the 2:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. ET window with 1.92 million viewers. Additionally, this year's Women's Euros tournament averaged 458,000 viewers across FOX, FS1 and FS2, up 97 percent from the 2022 tournament telecast average (233,000 viewers), making it the most-watched Women's Euros in English-language history. Entering the final, FOX Sports drew the most-watched UEFA Women's Euro group stage, quarterfinals and semifinals in English-language U.S. history. The network announced that the semifinal round also set a new record, with a staggering 176 percent increase compared to the 2022 average (788,000 viewers versus 285,000). A total of 785,000 people tuned in to watch England defeat Italy in extra time, marking a 178 percent rise from the 2022 semifinals. During that match, viewership peaked at 1,072,000 from 5:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. The following day, 782,000 viewers watched Spain take on Germany, with an impressive 1,032,000 tuning in during the 5:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET window. 'People enjoy following players when they know their stories, and when those players are featured in the NWSL, people are more invested in seeing how they perform for their country,' Lloyd said to The Athletic after the semifinals, emphasizing that the success of the Euros is closely linked to the growing impact of the NWSL. 'It absolutely helps grow the fan base. More and more people are tuning in to watch soccer in the U.S. With events like the Club World Cup and Gold Cup this summer, plus the anticipation building for the 2026 World Cup, there's just been an incredible amount of soccer on display, which has been fantastic for the sport.' For its first Women's Euro broadcast, the network showcased extensive pre-match and post-match coverage, featuring a lineup of renowned retired international women's football stars, including World Cup champions Carli Lloyd (a National Soccer Hall of Famer), Julie Ertz of the U.S. Women's National Team and four-time European champion Ariane Hingst of Germany. Fox broke multiple audience records starting from the group stages. Earlier this month, Fox announced that Euros group stage viewership nearly doubled from the 2022 iteration of the tournament, with an average of 306,000 people tuning in to those 24 matches this summer, compared to an average of 161,000 three years ago. France's victory over England was the most-watched women's Euro group stage match in English-language U.S. television history. The marquee matchup, which France won 2-1, drew 690,000 viewers, a 329 percent spike from the previous group stage average. A Fox spokesperson also said that England's 6-1 win over Wales attracted around 151,000 viewers to FS1, while the Lionesses' 4-0 victory over the Netherlands brought 120,000 to the same channel. The network also broadcasts the ongoing Women's Copa America. While audience numbers for this tournament are much smaller compared to the Euros, Fox has seen growth compared to the 2022 tournament. To date, group stage matches averaged 66,000 viewers on FS1/FS2, which is more than double (106 percent) the full 2022 group stage average (32,000 viewers across FS1/FS2). The network signed a six-year agreement with CONMEBOL in 2021 and holds the English-language rights to additional CONMEBOL women's tournaments, including qualifiers for the 2026 Women's Copa América. 'I think there's more room for growth for some of these other tournaments like Copa America and WAFCON,' Lloyd said. 'We've got a lot of our studio people working for both Euros and Copa America, which has been great, but we can only hope that there's more visibility with those tournaments as well in the future.' This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Sports Business, Women's Soccer, Women's Euros 2025 The Athletic Media Company
BBC News
28-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Hereford campervan family's joy at witnessing Lionesses win
A family who watched every kick of all England's games at the UEFA Women's Euros said it was euphoric to witness the Lionesses retain their European Morris family from Hereford were at St. Jakob Park, in Switzerland, to watch Chloe Kelly score the decisive spot-kick to win after Spain had missed three in a Morris, who was with his wife, Kelly, daughter, Amelia, 16, and son, Ethan, 13, said the squad had done the nation proud."When [the goal] went in it was just euphoria, we were behind the goal with the England band to our right, and everybody just went wild," Mr Morris said. He added: "It was such an occasion to witness live and the Lionesses, yet again, they've done the nation proud."The family travelled 800 miles (1,280 km) to watch every match thanks to travelling around in their hired campervan - which had to be back in Hereford last Thursday. Mr Morris returned it to the hiring company and made his way back to a Switzerland hotel for Sunday's entire tournament fostered a "positive environment", something not as prevalent in the men's games, he said."It's really family friendly, everybody was mixing with one another. "Even the Spanish fans were with us and we just had good natured banter throughout the whole match."Striker Michelle Agyemang was named as Euro 2025's young player of the tournament."A standout moment for me was when Michelle came off the bench and really turned the game around against Sweden."Also Lucy Bronze playing with a fractured tibia is absolutely amazing to play through that pain barrier for six weeks."The whole team they've come up trumps again, battled hard, dug deep and kept going right to the end and got the rewards to be champions of Europe, again," he said. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
CNA
24-07-2025
- Sport
- CNA
Players say future bright for Germany despite semi-final loss to Spain
ZURICH :Germany's players and coach Christian Wueck said their team would continue to develop and would come back stronger after their extra-time defeat to Spain in the UEFA Women's Euros semi-final. Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati struck in the 113th minute to break German hearts at Zurich's Letzigrund stadium on Wednesday. "I am proud of the team, and yes, we will continue from here," Wueck said. "It was another setback, but I believe we can build on that and we will now try to carry that on in the Nations League." Germany had exceeded expectations by holding out against World Champions Spain for so long, Wueck said. "And I believe that the development we have started is the right one and we stand behind it 100 per cent," he added. Defender Rebecca Knaak said the performance showed her team was on the right track. "We also showed today that we could play with a bit more courage, a bit more self-confidence, even against Spain, because of course we defended a lot, but we also wanted to set the tone in terms of play," Knaak said. "We showed what we could do against world-class players. I'm so proud of the girls," Knaak said. Teammate Sara Daebritz said the team was disappointed to concede such a late goal, dashing the team's dream of making the final, where Spain will now meet England. Still the team has "a very promising future," Daebritz said. "We have a lot of young players in our ranks, a lot of players who haven't played that many international matches yet, but who have really played an outstanding tournament here," she said.
Reuters
24-07-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Players say future bright for Germany despite semi-final loss to Spain
ZURICH, July 24 (Reuters) - Germany's players and coach Christian Wueck said their team would continue to develop and would come back stronger after their extra-time defeat to Spain in the UEFA Women's Euros semi-final. Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati struck in the 113th minute to break German hearts at Zurich's Letzigrund stadium on Wednesday. "I am proud of the team, and yes, we will continue from here," Wueck said. "It was another setback, but I believe we can build on that and we will now try to carry that on in the Nations League." Germany had exceeded expectations by holding out against World Champions Spain for so long, Wueck said. "And I believe that the development we have started is the right one and we stand behind it 100%," he added. Defender Rebecca Knaak said the performance showed her team was on the right track. "We also showed today that we could play with a bit more courage, a bit more self-confidence, even against Spain, because of course we defended a lot, but we also wanted to set the tone in terms of play," Knaak said. "We showed what we could do against world-class players. I'm so proud of the girls," Knaak said. Teammate Sara Daebritz said the team was disappointed to concede such a late goal, dashing the team's dream of making the final, where Spain will now meet England. Still the team has "a very promising future," Daebritz said. "We have a lot of young players in our ranks, a lot of players who haven't played that many international matches yet, but who have really played an outstanding tournament here," she said. "And we'll keep going, we'll keep working hard on ourselves and we'll come back stronger."
CNN
21-07-2025
- Sport
- CNN
England defender Jess Carter steps back from social media after racist abuse, team condemns ‘online poison'
England's Jess Carter says she will step back from social media after the defender said she has received 'a lot of racist abuse' since the beginning of the 2025 UEFA Women's Euros. Carter has started all four matches for England as the team has reached the semifinal stage of the tournament, where the Lionesses are seeking to win their second consecutive European Championship. 'While I feel every fan is entitled to their opinion on performance and result, I don't agree, or think, it's OK to target someone's appearance or race,' the 27-year-old said in a statement posted across her social media channels. 'As a result of this I will be taking a step back from social media and leaving it to a team to deal with.' Carter added that she is making the decision to protect herself 'in a bid to keep my focus on helping the team anyway I can.' 'Hopefully speaking out will make the people writing this abuse think twice so others won't have to deal with it. We have made some historic changes with this Lionesses squad that I am so proud to be a part of and my hope is that by speaking out about this it will make another positive change for all.' CNN Sports has reached out to Meta and X for comment. The official England women's social media account released a statement in support of Carter, calling the abuse the defender has suffered 'online poison.' 'No one should have to endure such vile abuse, be that in football or any walk of life,' the team said on X. 'Representing our country is the greatest honour. 'It is not right that while we are doing that, some of us are treated differently simply because of the colour of our skin.' The statement added that England players will stand rather than kneel – an act of solidarity against racism and prejudice introduced to soccer following the global outrage over the 2020 murder of George Floyd – ahead of their semifinal clash on Tuesday. 'It is clear we and football need to find another way to tackle racism,' it said. Mark Bullingham, CEO of the English Football Association (FA), said that the group is 'working with police to ensure those responsible for this hate crime are brought to justice.' 'Regrettably, this is not the first time this has happened to an England player, so we had measures in place to allow us to respond quickly and where possible provide information to support any potential police action,' Bullingham said. 'We will continue to discuss with the relevant authorities and social media companies about what more can and should be done to prevent this abhorrent abuse.' UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer offered his support for Carter, writing on social media: 'There is no place for racism in football or anywhere in society. 'I stand with Jess, the Lionesses, and any players who have suffered racism, on and off the pitch,' Starmer said. Online abuse directed at women's soccer players was a subject discussed ahead of the Women's Euros, with members of the England team saying they would avoid social media during major tournaments due to the abuse they are subjected to. Carter's England teammate Lotte Wubben-Moy announced on Sunday she would be coming off social media as a result of the persistent abuse. 'Another tournament goes by where we see the same disgusting racist abuse. It is unacceptable for any person to be subject to this or any kind of abuse,' Wubben-Moy said in a post on her Instagram Stories. 'The issue goes beyond sport. But what is being done about it? On the very platforms we post on? I will not continue to feed the very platform that enables abuse with no consequence.' Another of Carter's England teammates, defender Lucy Bronze, detailed the anger and sadness the whole squad felt upon hearing about the abuse targeted at Carter and that she hopes by standing before kick-off, rather than kneeling, will show that the players' voices 'make a difference.' Bronze added that the increasing popularity of women's soccer has led to increased abuse. 'The bigger the game gets, the bigger the noise becomes, the more fans there are, but the more critics there are,' Bronze told reporters. 'We're obviously open to critics – that's why we love the sport – but we're not open to abuse. 'Especially in women's football, the online abuse seems to be getting worse and worse. We see it more in the stadiums in men's football and online, but I think with women's football there seems to be a real target online. 'It's something that we're very aware of. There is a way to make a change. There is a solution. I don't have the answer, but I'm sure that there is one.' Since making her debut for England in 2017, Carter has been an ever-present in subsequent squads and was a part of the team who won the Women's Euros in 2022. She has made 49 appearances for the national side. England will look to book its second successive Women's Euros final as it plays Italy in the semifinal on Tuesday.
