Monday Night Football reaches highest audience in over ten years

Manchester United’s 2-1 victory over Liverpool this week brought Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football its highest audience in over ten years.

An average audience of 3.57 million tuned into United’s surprise win, with a peak of 3.78 million. The last time that the programme reached a higher audience was 30 April 2012, with four million tuning into watch Manchester City defeat Manchester United 1-0 on its way to its first top flight title since 1968 - and Sergio Aguero’s famous last minute goal that sealed the trophy.

Manchester United and Liverpool’s matches are a big draw for the broadcaster, with the clash between the pair in January 2021 the most viewed Premier League match on Sky Sports’ channels ever with an average of 4.5 million and peak of 4.8 million. Everton v Liverpool in June 2020 is the most watched Premier League game on any platform, but that was shown free-to-air on Pick TV as well as Sky Sports.

Liverpool was also invloved when Sky Sports drew seven million in one day earlier this year, with the Merseyside club’s match against Manchester City joining the Australian F1 Grand Prix and The Masters in April to bring a large audience to the pay-TV provider. That game itself drew 3.19 million viewers.