Euro 2021, a triple-paying sporting event

TF1, M6, BeIN SPORTS – FROM JUNE 11 TO JULY 11 – FOOTBALL

Connoisseurs know it well: every four years, the European Nations Football Championship, renamed “Euro”, offers a high level spectacle, sometimes superior to a World Cup final phase. This month of madness is eagerly awaited. By the fans and… by the TV vendors, whose sales explode as the competition approaches.

In 2016, during the Euro organized in France, the audiences had reached new heights. TF1 had broadcast 21 matches, recording an average of 7.8 million viewers per match, with peaks of 9.63 million for the eleven matches in the evening. M6 had smashed its records with the semi-final Portugal-Wales (20.83 million viewers, or 72.9% of audience share), which it had inherited by drawing lots. For its part, BeIN Sports, a pay broadcaster offering the entire competition, had garnered an influx of new subscribers and a high satisfaction rate.

TF1, M6 and BeIN Sports are still sharing the cake this year. This atypical “Euro 2020”, played in … 2021, does not change its name – health crisis obliges -, and the 24 selections will play for the first time in eleven countries, all over Europe. When he chaired UEFA (2007-2015), Michel Platini wanted to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the competition by “offering” matches to capitals of non-host countries but with modern stadiums – Bucharest, Copenhagen, Glasgow or the exotic Baku.

The final on M6

TF1 will broadcast twelve matches, M6 eleven – including the final, which was once again awarded by drawing lots. Only BeIN Sports subscribers will be able to watch the entire competition. This annoys some, who wonder if, in a country where 70% of households do not subscribe to a paid package, it is normal to be able to attend only 23 of the 51 meetings of such a popular and unifying competition for free. than the Euro. And to miss posters such as England-Croatia (June 13), Belgium-Denmark (June 17) or Spain-Poland (June 19), only broadcast on the Qatari channel?

The schedule promises to be busy. At the start of the competition, on certain days, three matches are scheduled. The three matches of the first round of the France team will be broadcast unencrypted on M6 (France-Germany, June 15 in Munich) then on TF1 (France-Hungary, on the 19 in Budapest, France-Portugal, on the 23, always in the Hungarian capital).

Behind the scenes of the Euro are also carriers of audience. Beyond the meetings, the channels holding the rights will multiply the meetings on the air: magazines entirely devoted to the Euro will be presented by Denis Brogniart (TF1), Marie Portolano (M6) or Darren Tulett (BeIN Sports ). Channels that will also develop digital events including “Téléfoot la daily” for TF1 and “Une hour avant” on 6play, the M6 ​​group’s replay and podcast service.

Although not holding broadcasting rights, La L’Equipe channel will cover the competition in a massive way. Four major daily meetings, from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m., twenty-five consultants and columnists, five special envoys around the stadiums and training camps will allow daily sports to be omnipresent at the event. Without forgetting its site, Lequipe.fr, which will line up chronicles, podcasts, reports and “100% Euro” portraits.