Real Madrid’s dramatic win over Manchester City in the second leg of their Uefa Champions League semi-final averaged 1.1 million viewers on US commercial broadcaster CBS, according to Sports Business Journal (SBJ).

The viewing figures for the game on 4th May made it the most-watched Champions League semi-final ever on English-language TV in the US. SBJ added that the CBS audience was up 118 per cent on the comparable semi-final in 2019, which was also the last time stadiums were able to operate at full capacity for this stage of the competition.

CBS has been broadcasting the Champions League, as well as the Uefa Europa League, since the closing stages of the 2019/20 season. The network was set to take on the US English-language rights to Uefa’s club competitions from 2021/22, only for its coverage to begin sooner when Turner Sports opted out of its deal with European soccer’s governing body in June 2020.

According to SBJ, CBS and Spanish-language network Univision are paying Uefa approximately US$150 million combined for their deal until the end of 2023/24.

Spanish champions Real’s comeback victory over City set up a final against Premier League giants Liverpool on 28th May. The match is being held at the Stade de France in Paris, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to St Petersburg being stripped of its right to stage the game.