Over 1.1 million watched Rangers vs Celtic this past weekend. Highest viewership in last 2 seasons. 674k watched Rangers vs Hearts recently as well.
by awatt12
Over 1.1 million watched Rangers vs Celtic this past weekend. Highest viewership in last 2 seasons. 674k watched Rangers vs Hearts recently as well.
by awatt12
9 Comments
Imagine having someone competent in charge to get us a good tv deal?
Nah that’s a pipe dream.
I imagine that number will get smashed with the post split derby as well as the Celtic/Hearts & Hearts/Rangers games. As much as people have split opinions on the Sky coverage, it’s good to see eyes on the Scottish product increasing.
Does that include dodgy sticks?
Was in pub in Fulham pre going to Fulham v Spurs and the pub had it on. Then left and the Rangers Celtic match was on on the concours TVs at the ground and lots watching it with a beer
Crude AI response to how this statistic compares to other nations. (We are assuming UK is counted as one entity.)
The Heavyweights: Verified Domestic Peak Viewership (2023/24 Season)
* England (Premier League): The Premier League is a juggernaut, but viewership is spread across many big games. During the 23/24 season, ten different matches eclipsed the 3 million viewer mark domestically in the UK on Sky Sports. Matches featuring title contenders like Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City consistently drew the highest peaks.
* France (Ligue 1): “Le Classique” remains the undisputed king of French football broadcasting. The clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille in September 2023 generated approximately 3.5 million domestic viewers on Amazon Prime Video.
* Spain (La Liga): You might assume El Clásico took the top spot, but it was actually edged out! The highest single domestic audience for the 23/24 season was Atlético Madrid vs. Barcelona in March 2024, which drew 1.668 million viewers on DAZN LaLiga. The first El Clásico (Barça vs. Real Madrid) of that season was incredibly close behind at 1.635 million viewers.
* Scotland (Scottish Premiership): The “Old Firm” derby between Rangers and Celtic in April 2024 set an all-time SPFL record. The thrilling 3-3 draw at Ibrox hit a peak domestic audience of 1.44 million viewers on Sky Sports, making it the most-watched Scottish league match since the SPFL was formed in 2013.
The Best Estimates for Other Top Leagues
For leagues where broadcasters (like DAZN Italy, Sky Deutschland, or ESPN Eredivisie) group their data into seasonal averages rather than publicizing single-match peaks, we have to rely on historical baseline trends for their biggest fixtures:
* Germany (Bundesliga): “Der Klassiker” (Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund) is Germany’s marquee TV event. Domestically, this fixture consistently peaks between 5 to 6 million viewers on Sky Deutschland.
* Italy (Serie A): The “Derby d’Italia” (Juventus vs. Inter Milan) traditionally pulls the highest numbers in Italy. Depending on the title implications, domestic viewership on DAZN Italy and Sky Italia usually peaks in the 4 to 5 million viewer range.
* Netherlands (Eredivisie): “De Klassieker” (Ajax vs. Feyenoord) is the main event in Dutch football, reliably drawing between 1 to 1.5 million viewers on ESPN in the Netherlands.
* Turkey (Süper Lig): The Intercontinental Derby (Galatasaray vs. Fenerbahçe) is an absolute phenomenon. While beIN Sports Turkey rarely releases exact match figures, industry estimates suggest domestic viewership routinely exceeds 5 million viewers, capturing a massive percentage of the country’s pay-TV market.
For leagues ranked 10th through 20th (such as the Czech First League, Norwegian Eliteserien, or Greek Super League), domestic audiences for their biggest derbies (like Slavia Prague vs. Sparta Prague or Olympiacos vs. Panathinaikos) generally peak in the low-to-mid hundreds of thousands, restricted entirely by the size of the country’s population and local pay-TV penetration.
Would you like me to dive deeper into the global international viewership for any of these specific rivalries, or look into how the domestic TV broadcast rights are valued for these leagues?
Competitive seasons drive engagement, who the fuck could have ever guessed that?
I think for the good of Scottish football Clancy must be given a job for life at Celtic. Rangers can trip over their own feet well enough that they don’t need a boost.
It’s almost like a competitive league is healthy and a good way of driving interest in the game…. Who’d have thought it!
Really earning that bumper £30m a year from Sky.
The final derby at Ibrox in April 2024 had 1.44 million viewers at its peak, for reference. Not sure “highest for a Scottish league match in nearly two seasons” is really indicative of much. This is just a PR statement.
It’d be interesting to see more about the numbers for the games they’ve actually began bothering to show which don’t include Celtic or Rangers instead.