Spain may have taken home the trophy, but with 6 billion ads stitched during the tournament, ad-funded broadcasters have also come out on top‍

• Yospace, the dynamic ad insertion specialist, stitched almost 6bn addressable ads across the four weeks of Euro 2024 - up 46% on a standard month
• 51,000 years’ worth of ads were stitched globally during the tournament
• The most watched ad break was at half-time during the England v Netherlands semi final, with over 9m ads stitched across 4 continents
• England’s equaliser in the final drove a 22% increase in mobile traffic and was the most watched moment of the match
• Data comes from Yospace’s broadcaster customers across four continents

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Staines-upon-Thames, UK, 16th July 2024: Football may not be coming home for England fans, but it’s not just the Spanish that will be celebrating success at Euro 2024. Data insights from Yospace, the dynamic ad insertion company, and gathered from ad-funded broadcaster customers across four continents, show that almost 6 billion addressable ads were stitched across the four weeks of the tournament, a 46% increase compared to a standard month of traffic. In a demonstration of the sheer scale of advertising in the streaming age, it would take 51,000 years to watch all the ads back-to-back.

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How each match played out also had a significant impact on viewing trends and ad views. The most watched ad break came in England’s semi final versus Netherlands. Over nine million ads were stitched during the half time ad break, across four continents, as the match stood on tenterhooks at 1-1. 

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The biggest impact on ads from an in-match event came in the quarter final between Spain and Germany, when Florian Wirtz’s wonder goal levelled the match in the 89th minute and took the game into extra time. Coming so close to the full time ad break, the goal drove the audience for the break up 33% compared to other games in the knockout stages of the competition. This increase is in stark contrast to matches that were decided during normal play, without dramatic endings, which typically saw a 25% decrease in ad views at full time compared with half time. 

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How the final played out

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Even though England ultimately faced final heartbreak, Cole Palmer’s successful strike from outside the box caused the biggest peak in traffic, particularly among fans on the go. As the ball hit the back of the net and the stadium erupted, so did mobile traffic, with a 22% increase in views. Many of those fans remained glued to the action with mobile traffic remaining approximately 7% higher for several minutes than it was prior to the goal. The closing moments, as England tried desperately to find another equaliser, saw a 12% increase in mobile traffic compared to the first 20 mins of the second half.

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Tim Sewell, CEO at Yospace commented: “With almost 6 billion ads stitched by Yospace during Euro 2024, the value of major sports events for both broadcasters and advertisers is abundantly clear. The media industry is preparing for the next phase in growth as streaming is set to become the primary method of watching and monetising valuable sports rights. The scale is only going to grow from here and only the most robust ad insertion technologies with dynamic prefetch are going to be able to meet that demand. It is critical to business success that rights-holders maintain the highest possible fill-rates, no matter how unpredictable the live events may be.”

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Yospace, the dynamic ad insertion company, with 25 years in broadcast, media and telco, has unique insights by working with 13 broadcasters of Euro 2024 across the globe. To date, Yospace has monetised five Olympic Games, five FIFA World Cups, and thirty-five Grand Slam tennis tournaments. Euro 2024 is the third edition of the pan-European men’s football tournament to be monetised by the company.