PSG has once again reached the pinnacle of European football, but their second consecutive Champions League trophy did not set new records on the small screen. While the club celebrated a historic “back-to-back” achievement against Arsenal, the television audience fell short of the massive numbers seen during last year’s triumph.
Last year, the crushing 5-0 victory over Inter Milan captivated an average of 11.5 million viewers. This time around, the figures told a different story. The clash with Arsenal drew a combined average of 9.1 million football fans across two major broadcasters. M6 recorded 6.2 million viewers, peaking at 13.5 million during the high-stakes final moments, while Canal+ added another 2.9 million to the total. This represents a significant decrease of over 2 million viewers on the free-to-air channel compared to the previous final.
The primary reason for this decline was a scheduling conflict with Roland-Garros. French tennis sensation Moïse Kouamé was battling on the Suzanne-Lenglen court just as the football action was heating up in the final led by Luis Enrique.
Tennis star Moïse Kouamé attracts 3 million viewers
Sports fans were forced to choose between the pitch and the court. Despite Moïse Kouamé’s desire to finish his match early to watch his favorite football club, the tournament schedule placed his third-round match against Alejandro Tabilo at 4:15 PM. As the 6:00 PM kickoff for PSG-Arsenal approached, the 17-year-old from Sarcelles was still in the heat of competition. His performance managed to pull 3 million viewers, directly impacting the early audience numbers for the football final.
Following his four-set defeat (6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-7[9-11]), Moïse Kouamé appeared at the press conference sporting a PSG jersey. He admitted to catching the most stressful part of the game, noting that he saw the penalty shootout. The young player expressed that the club’s victory served as a small consolation for his own loss on the clay court.
