Irish fans and EURO 2024
With the 2024 UEFA European Championships moving into the knockout stages, Ireland’s love for European football and flair means interest has been high despite not having a team in the competition.
Recently, Global Web Index (GWI), a global survey of internet users, launched research into the 2024 UEFA Euros and how Europeans intend to follow the tournament.
The headline - 103m people across the UK, Germany, France, and Italy, will tune in for at least some of the games.
61m will watch games in either their own or someone else’s home, with 37m watching socially in a bar, pub, or other public place.
Outside of just watching, 22.6m people say they’ll use social media to post about the tournament or watch clips of games and highlights.
And fans aren’t the only ones who will be keeping a close eye on the tournament. According to SportBusiness, 19 companies, including international brands like Adidas, Alipay, Coca-Cola, Lidl, and Qatar Airways, have already committed an estimated €900m to UEFA to cover a sponsorship period from 2022 to 2030, with Euro 2024 and Euro 2028 being the showpiece events in this time.
Chinese companies account for 25-27% of the sponsorship revenue, as they seek to get their brand and products in front of more European audiences at scale. These tournaments tend to attract casual fans and families over and above those who are already committed followers of football.
But what do we know about Irish fan interest in the tournament?
Since the last Euros in 2021, we’ve seen a 23% increase in interest levels (either watching live, streaming, watching highlights/social clips, or generally following the tournament) in the build-up to 2024. While this could be down to many factors, not least the recent exciting seasons of the Champions League, it might also be down to the way new fans are following the game.
Even though the League of Ireland has seen significant growth in viewership and attendance levels in recent years, half of Irish people, or two thirds of Irish football fans, still say the main club they support is a non-domestic European team – with Manchester United and Liverpool leading the way (14% and 13.5% respectively).
Gen Z is far more likely to drive this support of European teams than older generations. They’re also more likely to follow multiple teams or individual players, like Cristiano Ronaldo or Kylian Mbappé, rather than the traditional fandom of just one club. They are also 17% more likely to stream the matches, with recently released RTÉ streaming figures for the group stages already eclipsing the total streams from the 2021 tournament.
This love of European clubs and the football they play, as well as certain players, could be driving interest in the tournament.
Lastly, although we might not readily admit it, the English football team draws Irish viewers to the tournament like no other.
941,000 people watched the final in 2021, more than the All-Ireland Hurling final that year between Limerick and Cork (774k) and slightly less than the Rugby World Cup final in 2023 shown on both RTE and Virgin Media (1.04m across both channels).
While viewers may have watched the final regardless, 888,000 saw England beat Denmark in the Semi-Finals compared to 586,000 for Italy and Spain, showing just how much a draw they really have.
And the group stages have shown how much of a hold the English squad have on the Irish public, even with recent performances. On TV, 366,260 people watched their first group game, a 1-0 win versus Serbia, with 151,000 streams.
Another 270,000 watched their 1-1 draw with Denmark live on TV, while it also saw the highest number of streams in the early group stage rounds (as of June 23rd), with 211,000.
When the England team plays, interest in the tournament in Ireland goes up, regardless of entertainment value. Is that down to an interest in their clubs and players? Or are we hoping they lose on penalties?
So, will our fandom of the competition continue?
No doubt. Irish fans will continue to tune in this Summer to watch their favourite players. Combined viewership across live TV, streaming platforms, in-pub and social media engagement will be considerable.
Friendly kick off times, England as favourites, and an increasing interest in European clubs could all contribute to its success. Time will tell if it can eclipse the All-Ireland Championships, or the Rugby World Cup last year.
And all this interest for a competition the Irish team aren’t even in. While most eyes will rightfully be focused on the games kicking off in Germany, some may be tempted to think of qualification in four years’ time, and a European Championship that could truly grip the nation.
Irish businesses will be thinking the same, looking to interest levels this year to predict what a competition with much higher Irish relevance could mean in 2028. The benefit of hosting the tournament for Ireland has been estimated at a value of €241m to the economy (€3bn across the UK and Ireland), a mouthwatering prospect for any Irish brand.
Source: Global Web Index (GWI Core, GWI Zeitgeist May 2024) https://app.globalwebindex.com/dashboards/63a2de7d-2bd3-4dab-be34-ee4561b9d734, Nielsen TechEdge (avg. viewership in ‘000s, Individuals 4+), SportBusiness https://sponsorship.sportbusiness.com/2024/06/chinese-brands-double-down-on-family-friendly-uefa-national-team-events/, Business Plus https://businessplus.ie/news/euro-2028-bid-croke-park/
