Viewing numbers for the first el Clásico of the 2018/19 season between Barcelona and Real Madrid have been boosted by digital numbers.

As soccer fans continue to watch games on devices instead of television more than ever before, the viewing numbers for smartphones, tablets and over-the-top (OTT) devices are becoming more important than ever before.

While the TV viewing audience for el Clásico averaged 544,359 viewers on beIN SPORTS and beIN SPORTS en Español combined, beIN SPORTS generated an additional 383,000 streams on the premiere of El Clásico across beIN SPORTS Connect platforms such as web, mobile apps and Roku.

Nielsen’s digital measurement includes virtual MVPDs (multichannel video programming distributors) AT&T U-Verse, DIRECTV, fuboTV, Sling TV and PlayStation Vue.

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Viewership of El Clásico drove the highest daily levels for both streams and unique users on beIN SPORTS Connect during the month of October. The previous highest spike of the month was on October 20 between Barcelona vs. Sevilla.