A peak domestic TV audience of almost eight million tuned in to watch Newcastle United's Carabao Cup triumph over Liverpool at Wembley Stadium on Sunday afternoon, the English Football League have confirmed.
Eddie Howe's men completed a stunning result as they bested Premier League leaders Liverpool over 90 minutes to win 2-1 - in turn ending Newcastle's 70-year wait for silverware.
Sky Sports were the chief broadcasters of the competition, showing this term's EFL Cup showpiece on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football. An agreement with ITV also allowed for the match to be shown on free-to-air television in the UK.
With that, the EFL has now confirmed a peak audience of 7.9million was on stand-by to witness Magpies history be made, with an average audience of 6.3 million across the entire 90 minutes.
This is in addition to the 88,513 that attended Wembley for the match and the millions more television viewers who watched on from the 193 territories that it was broadcast to across the globe.
From the first round - right through to last weekend's final - the EFL also recorded an attendance of 1.8m supporters for Carabao Cup matches this season. This marks a 20 per cent increase from the previous 2023/24 campaign.
The EFL's chief executive officer, Trevor Birch, said: "The attendance and viewership numbers for Sunday's final demonstrate the continued popularity of the Carabao Cup, and the value the competition holds in the football calendar for supporters up and down the country and across the world.
"It was a fitting finale to a wonderful season of Carabao Cup football, and I'd like to thank each of Sky Sports, ITV and our international broadcast partners for making it such a success."
As winners of the competition this term, Newcastle will automatically qualify for a play-off berth in next season's UEFA Europa Conference League. That said, they are still fighting for as high as a Champions League place, via the Premier League's top-four.
Regardless of which European competition they qualify for next term, they will re-enter to defend their Carabao Cup title in the 2025/26 season's fourth round stage.
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