Premium live sports are continuing to deliver mass audiences for broadcasters, with women’s competitions and new formats emerging as major growth drivers, according to Glance’s Yearly Sport Key Facts 2025 report.
The TV and video market intelligence specialist analysed sports consumption between September 2024 and August 2025 across 45 markets, with an initial wave of 15 territories showing record viewing levels – including the highest ever Super Bowl audience and a sharp rise in women’s sport ratings.
In the United States, Super Bowl LIX on FOX reached an all-time high of 126.7 million viewers and a 100% market share, underlining the pulling power of premium live sports in an increasingly fragmented media landscape.
Women’s sport posted some of the season’s standout numbers. The UEFA Women’s European Championship delivered the top sports audience of the year in both Germany and the UK, while the Women’s Tour de France almost doubled its average audience year on year – from 1.4 million in 2024 to 2.7 million in 2025 – peaking at 4.4 million viewers and a 41% share for the final stage on France 2.
Tennis also delivered significant results. The Roland Garros final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner became France’s most-watched French Open final since 2011, with an average audience of more than 5.1 million across France 2 and France 3. Sinner’s Wimbledon win then generated the UK’s third-highest sports audience of the season, with nearly 5.8 million viewers and a 48.3% share on BBC One.
In France, rugby remained an important of the TV sports schedule, accounting for 6 of the country’s top 10 sports audiences and 17% of total sports viewing. New competitions also cut through, with the inaugural NHL 4 Nations Face-off dominating Canadian sports viewing and delivering 4 of the top 10 sports audiences. The Canada–USA final drew 4.5 million viewers and a 38% share on Sportsnet, and 9.3 million viewers on ESPN in the US.
Despite the growth of women’s events and newer formats, football remains the most-watched sports genre in 6 of the 15 markets studied, representing 49% of total sports viewing in Italy and 71% in Spain.
Glance says the findings highlight both the enduring strength of marquee live events and a “fundamental shift” towards more diverse sports consumption, with women’s competitions now firmly established as mainstream ratings drivers. The Yearly Sport Key Facts 2025 report is available via the OneGlance online platform, with further updates on additional markets, Formula 1 and MotoGP due in December and January.
