Euro 2024 breaks BT broadband records

More than 11.5 million homes across the UK streamed at least one home nations match at Euro 2024 using BT Group’s broadband network, with the tournament coming to an eventful climax on Sunday night as Luis de la Fuente’s Spain pipped England to win a record fourth European Championship.

Euro 2024 has become one of the biggest standalone sporting events in recent history, with Scottish and English fans consuming more than 11,000 TB of broadband data in the last four weeks streaming their team’s matches, with download traffic from the BBC or ITV more than 30 times higher than an average week.

To put that into context, this is the equivalent amount of data needed to watch England’s entire run to the Euro 2024 final more than 700,000 times in a row.

The big demand from football fans also caused both the BBC and ITV to consistently break into the list of top 3 content providers across BT Group’s entire broadband network – with more people using these platforms than the likes of Netflix, Facebook and YouTube during home nations matches.

As the nation gathered to cheer on the Three Lions, the action-packed final saw a 142% increase in customers streaming the game compared to England’s semi-final against the Netherlands. The highest peak in broadband traffic during the final came as Cole Palmer equalised for England just after 9.30pm.

While the areas of the UK that saw some of the biggest increases in streaming traffic for the Euro 2024 final were Essex, Liverpool, and Bristol – with more rural areas including the Outer Hebrides also seeing an increase.

Greg McCall, Chief Network Officer at BT Group, commented: “History was made last night. While Southgate’s men were proudly tackling the challenge on the pitch, our broadband network stood up to the challenge off it – seamlessly streaming one of the most anticipated events in years to homes in every corner of the country.

“It’s moments like this that bring people together and create memories that last a lifetime, and we’re honoured that our robust and reliable network meant fans of all ages got to live and breathe every moment.”

Outside of the final, England’s perfect penalties against Switzerland in the quarterfinal – in which Palmer, Toney, Bellingham, Saka, and Alexander-Arnold all scored – was the next individual moment with the highest peak in broadband traffic out of all the home nations games.