The ski hunters now also lure an audience of millions in front of the TV screens in the neighboring country -which also pays off in the long term. France is becoming more and more a great power in the biathlon.
In Germany, Biathlon has been attracting millions of fans to the television for years – in the meantime, sport in neighboring France is also developing into a crowd magnet.
As the French TV home of sports, the station of the same name reports L’Equipe connected to the newspaper of the same name, the biathlon broadcasts last winter attracted an average of one million spectators per race-an increase of 23 percent compared to the previous year.
The memorable duel between Lou JeanMonnot and winner Franziska Preuß at the weekend at the Holmenkollen in Oslo even ensured a new highlight: 1.558 million switched on.
Spectator boom nourishes the sporting views
The dimension is not yet the same as in Germany – at ARD and ZDF, an average of 3.18 million in 2024/25, biathlon is and remains the most popular winter sport in this country.
Nevertheless, the growing interest in France, where winter sports on television is rather not a mass phenomenon, is remarkable. Martin Fourcade’s success in the past decade and the strong performance of his heirs – Quentin Fillon Maillet, Emilia Jacquelin, Julia Simon, Justine Braisaz -Bouchet, JeanMonnot – have gradually created a larger fan base.
The spectator boom and the ongoing sporting upswing – five French women placed among the top 8 – nourished each other.