By Paul Kennedy

Through eight matches, ESPN is averaging 1,260,000 viewers for Euro 2012. That's an increase of  183 percent compared to the first eight games of Euro 2008 (446,000 viewers).

And Wednesday’s Netherlands-Germany afternoon matchup posted a strong 1.2 overnight rating, while the earlier Denmark-Portugal game posted a 0.9 overnight, according to Nielsen.
 
Top 10 metered markets:
1.9 New York
1.8 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale
1.3 Los Angeles
1.3 Providence
1.3 Jacksonville
1.2 Washington, D.C.
1.2 Richmond, Va.
1.2 Atlanta
1.2 Greensboro-High Point, N.C.
1.1 Austin, Texas
(Note: through 10 games.)
 
ESPN Deportes is averaging a 3.0 Hispanic household coverage rating with 157,000 Hispanic households (up 131 percent from 2008) through the first eight matches.

MORE EURO RATINGS. The European Championship is a huge hit in Europe, attracting a majority of the television viewers across Europe's major nations. Some highlights:

-- The Germany-Netherlands game drew a 75 percent share Wednesday on ARD with more than 27 million viewers. Saturday's Germany game against Portugal 1-0, attracted a 69.3 percent share on ARD.

-- Defending champion Spain drew a 60.2 percent share for its 1-1 tie with Italy on Telecinco. The game drew a 70 percent share in Italy on RAI.

-- France-England drew a 56.3 percent share on ITV1 in England and a 50 percent share on France's TFI, its biggest audience since 2006.

EURO WEBCASTS. Wednesday’s Germany-Netherlands match on ESPN3 (web) and WatchESPN (mobile) was the highest-performing match so far in the tournament, logging 395,000 unique viewers, 17.3 million minutes and an average minute audience of 115,283 to both English- and Spanish-language feeds.

EPL HITS TV JACKPOT. The English Premier League television rights in England went for $6 billion in a three-year deal announced on Wednesday -- an increase of 70 percent. BSkyB bought five packages covering 116 games a season, while British Telecom acquired the other two for 38 games. The deal, which covers the 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, means ESPN UK will be out of the picture.

KORRIO SIGNS UP D.C. UNITED. Korrio has signed D.C. United as the first MLS club to use its automation platform to streamline operations for the clubs’s academy and camp programs and provide its 1,300 players its personalized dashboard designed to help organize and share all of their soccer activities.

PEPSI BRINGS SOCCER TO STREETS. Pepsi is promoting street soccer in California with the Pepsi Clasico de Calle in Bakersfield, Fresno, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose. Players will test their dribbling abilities, freestyle skills and technique. Five winners will be named to the 2012 Pepsi Calle All Stars team. Celebrity judges include soccer personality Temryss Lane, the Los Angeles Galaxy's Omar Gonzalez and former Mexican star Claudio Suarez.
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