It was followed almost immediately by an ad break that became by far the most watched and most valuable of all ad breaks during the game

YoSpace

England’s Euro 2024 match against Slovakia on Sunday was memorable only for another unimpressive performance – until Jude Bellingham’s spectacular equaliser in the 95th minute.

Viewing stats from “dynamic ad insertion” company Yospace shows these final dramaic moments of the match inspired a massive boost in streaming audiences and advertising.

The stats, which were collated from broadcasters across four continents, show that immediately after Jude Bellingham’s overhead kick in the 95th minute, audiences  leaped up - with people hearing about the heroics and switching on.

The majority logged on from mobile devices, wherever they were at the time. Within seconds, the referee blew the final whistle, which was followed immediately afterwards by an ad break. Suddenly, this ad break became by far the most watched and most valuable of all, delivering millions of extra, unscheduled ad spots to a highly engaged audience.

England captain Harry Kane’s header at the beginning of extra time also drove a spike in viewers – again mainly driven by mobile – suggesting that such sporting events have the power to pull in viewers for key moments and drive extra advertising value on top of the usual audiences for the full 90, or in this case, 120 minutes.

Tim Sewell, CEO at Yospace said: ”England’s performance so far demonstrates the unpredictable nature of live-streaming sports. Major events like Euro 2024 are defined by huge moments that capture the attention of viewers everywhere, on top of the high concurrent audiences you normally see for high-profile sports. As knockout tensions rise during the tournament, advertisers and broadcasters will need to be able to scale up their capabilities at a moment’s notice and be prepared for the brilliance of Bellingham’s 95th-minute equaliser.”

Yospace works with 13 broadcasters of Euro 2024 across the globe.