Downturn or not, football's appeal remains sky-high

THE economic slowdown clearly isn't having much of an effect when it comes to football, if the latest numbers coming out of France - the host country for Euro 2016 - are any indication.

According to European football's governing body UEFA, the month-long tournament, now into its second week, is regularly pulling in an average of 130 million TV viewers for each of the group matches so far.

By comparison, this year's Super Bowl - the most prestigious professional football game in the United States - drew a TV audience of about 112 million when the match was played in February.