Leeds United escape breaks six-year Championship record as Whites make second tier TV splash - YEP 8/8/23
Leeds United’s last gasp score-draw with Cardiff City last weekend was the most-watched regular season EFL fixture since 2017.
By Joe Donnohue
Leeds’ encounter with Cardiff drew a peak audience of almost
one million viewers on Sunday afternoon as the Whites returned to the second
tier.
"The fixture between Leeds United and Cardiff City was
also the most watched Championship fixture on Sky Sports, excluding Play-Offs,
since 2017, with a peak audience of nearly a million viewers,” the EFL said in
a statement released on Tuesday.
United’s second half fight-back, culminating in Crysencio
Summerville’s late equaliser, was seen by hundreds of thousands on Sky Sports, in
addition to several more around the world, as the Whites shattered regular
season domestic broadcast records from the last five seasons.
That means no fixture during the Coronavirus pandemic, when
supporters were prohibited from entering stadiums, drew in as large a peak
audience as Leeds’ Championship opener on Sunday, August 6, according to Sky
Sports’ viewing figures.
Across the division, there was an increase of 44.2 per cent
in attendances compared to the opening weekend of 2022/23 with 317,272
supporters spectating across 12 fixtures.
This was in no small part aided by Sheffield Wednesday’s
return to the second tier, with their 34,835-capacity stadium Hillsborough
replacing recently promoted Luton Town’s 10,365-seater Kenilworth Road.
The 36,368 who witnessed Leeds’ comeback at Elland Road was
the second-largest attendance throughout the division, surpassed only by
Sunderland’s home defeat by Ipswich Town at the Stadium of Light.
EFL Chief Executive, Trevor Birch said: “With over half a
million supporters in stadiums across the country, a record number watching at
home and goals flowing at games in every division, it really was a fantastic
opening EFL weekend for all involved.
