Viewers flocked to TSN in record numbers on Sunday, as the 2008 European Championship final between soccer powerhouses Spain and Germany drew one million viewers, making it the highest-rated Euro game ever on the sportscaster.

The Germans were favored to win going into the prestigious tournament, while Spain hadn’t scored a major soccer trophy in 44 years. Audience levels peaked at 1.1 million viewers towards the end of the game, as the Spanish team, nicknamed the ‘Red Fury,’ edged the Germans 1-0 (all numbers 2+).

TSN doubled the audience of 2004’s Euro final between Greece and Portugal, which aired on main network CTV to 566,000 viewers. The 31-game Euro tournament was shared by TSN and Rogers Sportsnet, which averaged a combined 309,000 viewers per game, marking a 7% increase over the previous high.

Sportsnet achieved its highest audience of the tournament on June 22 for the quarter-final match between Spain and Italy, which nabbed 816,000 viewers.

The Euro Cup arrived with a big push from TSN and Sportsnet, which aired all games in high definition and featured pre- and post-game coverage for each match, along with widespread coverage on the web.

From Playback Daily