A peak audience of 800,000 tuned into Everton v Manchester City
The BBC has more than tripled the record for the most-watched club-level women’s football match in the UK.
The Women’s Super League opener between Everton and Manchester City saw a peak audience of 800,000, and an average of 700,000 tune in. There were also 100,000 requests made to BBC iPlayer to see the encounter, reports The Times.
This beat out the previous record of 224,000, which was the peak audience that tuned into the Manchester derby on former rights holder BT Sport in November 2020.
Despite a tight encounter expected between the two sides aiming to challenge for the top spots, Manchester City ended up winning 4-0 against the Toffees thanks to first half goals from Vicky Losada, Janine Beckie, and Khadja Shaw - before Steph Houghton wrapped it up with the fourth in the second half.
The WSL is being shown on the BBC and Sky Sports for the next three seasons, in what is the first commercial rights deal for the competition.
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