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Saturday's Real Madrid-Barcelona Match Was Expected To Draw Up To 500 Million Viewers

When Real Madrid plays Barcelona, it is "arguably the biggest game in club football each year," according to ESPN.com. Before Saturday's 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou, the most recent Clásico, in April, "aired in more than 90 countries around the world," with more than 400 million total viewers. Global viewing figures for Super Bowl 50 -- which took place in February -- "were unavailable at the time of publication," but Super Bowl 49 drew an audience of 160 million. While more people watch when Barcelona and Real Madrid meet, it is "more expensive to go to the NFL's biggest game, though the resale market has a major effect on ticket prices for both events" (ESPN.com 12/1). ESPN.com's Dermot Corrigan reported as many as half a billion fans were "expected to watch" Saturday's game. Some TV viewers had a "more privileged position than others, with the league's authorities having partnered with broadcasters in five of the world's biggest cities to put on collective screenings." La Liga Corporate Brand Activation Dir Cristina Sánchez said that these events were organized to "get closer to Spanish football's supporters all over the world." She said, "El Clásico has global appeal, which is why we've wanted to take the game to fans all over the world. ... We want to give those fans, who don't usually have a chance to visit Spain, an opportunity to enjoy them in their own countries." In China, #ElClasico events were being held at Beijing's Image Base Art Center and Shanghai's Water House; New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Mumbai's Khar Gymkhana hosted Indian screenings; while in South Africa it was shown at Johannesburg's Nelson Mandela Square. La Liga reached deals with more than 50 int'l broadcasters to show the game on Saturday, "and no other sporting event can match its reach." The 4:15pm local time kickoff was chosen with a view to maximizing "the total number of people" who could see the game live, "in particular in India and China," according to Sánchez (ESPN.com, 12/2).

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