Nearly 15 million people tuned in to BBC1 last night to watch England battle to a 1-0 win over Serbia in their opening game of the Euros, new figures have revealed.
A peak audience of 14.8 million watched Gareth Southgate’s men make the perfect start to the tournament as Jude Bellingham scored the only goal of a nervy encounter with a powerful header after 13 minutes.
It easily secured the highest rating of the night, with an audience share of 60.3 per cent, according to Overnights.tv who provided the data.
The figure is lower than the estimated 17 million that analysts had predicted would watch the game, with an average of 10.4 million tuning in across the 90 minutes.
By comparison, a peak of 10.4 million tuned into ITV to watch the Euros opener on Friday when Germany thrashed Scotland 5-1.
The figure eclipsed the average audience of 7.4 million that watched England’s first game of the 2022 World Cup against Iran.
Nearly 15 million people tuned in to BBC1 last night to watch England battle to a 1-0 win over Serbia in their opening game of the Euros
A peak audience of 14.8 million watched Gareth Southgate ‘s men make the perfect start to the tournament as Jude Bellingham (pictured) scored the only goal of the game with a powerful header
Stay-at-home fans were thought to have downed an estimated 30 million pints in pubs and their houses while watching the match.
England’s 35,000 pubs were bracing themselves for Super Sunday, with more than 14 million pints expected to have been sold. Another 16 million were predicted to be quaffed at home, say analysts.
Ahead of the game in Gelsenkirchen bullish Three Lions fans headed to pubs in the former mining city in western Germany where they down steins of lager and sang ‘Sweet Caroline’.
Some 40,000 were expected to have travelled to the city, with around 300,000 expected to travel to Germany during the month-long tournament.
Some could be heard belting out the Neil Diamond classic that has become the unofficial anthem of the England football team.
Stay-at-home fans were thought to have downed an estimated 30 million pints in pubs and their houses while watching the match
It comes as more than a million English fans are expected to skip work today, after 30 million pints were downed in pubs and homes. Another eight million will likely work from home, experts said.
BrightHR, which monitors absence among more than a million employees at 50,000 companies, projected a repeat of the 128 per cent sickness increase the day after England’s Euro 2020 Sunday group game.
Chief executive Alan Price said: ‘England fans are preparing to nurse sore heads following the Serbia match, with “Hangover Monday” on the way.
‘Businesses should brace for a wave of questionable sick-leave submissions, unexpected absences, lateness and last-minute holiday requests.’
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