4 Feb 2008Football knocked off TV pedestal

Football was not the most popular sport to watch on television in Europe in 2007.

That is according to new figures from the TV Sports Markets Survey, which revealed that rugby and handball took over.

In the UK, the rugby World Cup, in which England lost to South Africa in the final, was the most watched sporting event.

The French also watched this event in their millions, with the French national side reaching the semi-finals.

However, in Germany the final of the World Handball Championship attracted the largest audience.

In fact, viewing figures were so high that they broke all previous records for non-footballing events in the last decade.

Germany was the host nation and won the tournament with a 29-24 victory over Poland. The tournament also drew huge audiences in Denmark and Norway.

The biggest audiences for Champions League football came in Italy and Spain, with the competition being won by AC Milan with a 2-1 victory over Liverpool.

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