While football once again commanded the overwhelming share of attention, the data also highlights the rise of darts overtaking tennis and becoming the second most viewed sport on Flashscore in the UK, as well as Newcastle United edging into the established elite in digital engagement, and a Champions League heavyweight clash between Real Madrid and Arsenal standing as the single most viewed match of the year.
Across players and competitions, the numbers point to a UK audience that is globally focused, narrative-driven and increasingly responsive to breakout stars.
All statistics referenced are derived from Flashscore's internal UK metrics for 2025, covering total views, profile visits and 24-hour match detail traffic.
Sports
Football generated 5,947,059,021 views in the United Kingdom across 2025 and was the most viewed sport in every single month of the year. That level of dominance is not surprising. What is surprising is what sits immediately beneath it.
Darts finished as the second-most viewed sport in the UK, with 274,634,755 views, ahead of tennis on 238,400,139. That margin is not marginal; in fact, it represents a decisive shift in mainstream sporting appetite. One teenager springs to mind.
Luke Littler's emergence as a crossover star has clearly moved the needle.
Darts has long had a loyal following, but to outstrip tennis across a full calendar year suggests something more seismic than seasonal hype. A December spike around the PDC World Championship further underlines that this is not a niche interest, but a growing national fascination.
Teams
The so-called "big six" narrative took a statistical knock in 2025. Liverpool led all clubs with 5,345,696 UK profile visits, followed by Manchester United and Arsenal. Manchester City and Chelsea remained entrenched in the top five.
Yet Newcastle United, not Tottenham Hotspur, rounded out the traditional elite conversation in overall attention. Newcastle amassed 2,561,883 profile visits, comfortably inside the upper tier of domestic interest, while Tottenham's total of 2,444,395 left them trailing the Magpies in raw UK engagement.
This is revealing as digital relevance increasingly mirrors ambition, investment and European visibility. Newcastle's sustained traffic through the autumn months hints at a club whose audience footprint is expanding in step with their competitive aspirations.
Matches
The single most viewed match in the UK in 2025 was Real Madrid versus Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals, generating 2,628,273 match detail views within 24 hours. That figure outstripped every Premier League fixture, underlining the enduring gravitational pull of the Champions League.
Manchester United were heavily represented across the top 20, but it was a European heavyweight clash featuring Arsenal that topped the chart. Even in a league-saturated market, continental drama cuts through.
Away from football, Luke Littler versus Michael van Gerwen in the World Championship final in January 2025 drew 952,887 24-hour views, the highest non-football match of the year. Tennis peaked at 297,578 for Jannik Sinner versus Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open.
Players
Kylian Mbappe was the most viewed player profile in the UK in 2025 with 931,457 visits, narrowly ahead of Erling Haaland and Harry Kane.
Of the top 10 most viewed players, only two were British: Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford. The Premier League may be England's competition, but its digital superstars remain overwhelmingly global.
Three of the top five most viewed players, Mbappe, Haaland and Lamine Yamal, are based abroad. Domestic attachment remains powerful, but global superstardom still garners the clicks.
Luke Littler's presence is arguably the most remarkable data point of all.
He ranked 11th overall among all players in the UK with 701,409 profile visits, the only non-footballer inside the top 20.
Among British players, he was the third-most viewed, behind Kane and Rashford, and ahead of a long list of big names.
But December delivered another darting twist. Justin Hood, a darts player, was the most-watched player of that month. Every other month of 2025 was topped by a footballer. When the darts peaks, it peaks loudly.
Competitions
The Premier League was comfortably the most viewed competition in the UK, amassing 58,615,924 tournament page opens. The Championship followed on 27,420,007, reinforcing the depth of appetite across the English pyramid.
The PDC World Championship, however, achieved 2,783,520 competition page opens, surpassing the FA Cup's 2,738,587, meaning a single darts tournament managed to edge out English football's most storied domestic cup competition on Flashscore in the UK in 2025.