Media: Football accounted for 27% of sports programmes worldwide in 2016-17 (Eurodata TV Worldwide)

"In the 45 countries studied (list below), football accounts for a large part of the sports programmes on generalist channels: 27% on average. It amounts to more than 70% in Portugal and Russia," said Eurodata TV Worldwide, a subsidiary of the French audience measurement institute Médiamétrie, following its annual study (September 2016 to August 2017) on sports television on 07/12/2017.

"In 2017 football, winter sports and local competitions have gathered large audiences in front of TV screens around the world. While television is increasingly challenged by non-linear ways of consumption, sports and live television are still a perfect match," said Eurodata TV Worldwide.

"The 2018 World Cup Qualifying matches also help us measure the eagerness of fans to support their teams in the Russian arenas. In Belgium for instance, all 7 matches of the Diables Rouges’ campaign that took place between September 2016 and June 2017 were part of the 10 best Sports audiences. In Croatia, the national team qualifiers scored an average audience share of 43.7% on HTV1 & HTV2," added Eurodata TV…