Record viewership for Bundesliga restart in Germany

More than six million tuned in to watch first league match in two months

Burussia Dortmund forward Erling Braut Haaland celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Schalke at Signal Iduna Park on May 16. AFP

Dortmund's Erling Braut Haaland scores the opening goal against Schalke. AFP

Dortmund's Thorgan Hazard, left, celebrates with Julian Brandt after scoring his side's third goal. AFP

Dortmund's Thomas Delaney challenges Suat Serdar of Schalke. Getty

Dortmund's Erling Haaland, left, celebrates after scoring the opening goal. AP

Schalke manager David Wagner. Reuters

A TV cameraman wears a face mask during the match between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke. AP

Dortmund's Raphael Guerreiro scores his side's second goal. Getty

Dortmund's Thorgan Hazard scores their third goal. Reuters

Fortuna Dusseldorf defender Matthias Zimmermann is tackled by Paderborn's Sebastian Vasiliadis. The match finished 0-0. AFP

Balls are disinfected at the Dusseldorf-Paderborn game. Reuters

Fortuna Dusseldorf's players sit on the bench during the Bundesliga match at home to Paderborn. AFP

Hoffenheim's forward Ihlas Bebou, centre, misses a chance against Hertha Berlin in Sinsheim on Saturday. Hertha Berlin won the match 3-0. AP

Hertha Berlin forward Matheus Cunha celebrates after scoring their third goal against Hoffenheim. AFP

Freiburg's Manuel Gulde celebrates with Christian Gunte after scoring against RB Leipzig on Saturday. The match finished 1-1. Reuters

RB Leipzig's Spanish defender Angelino prepares to take a corner during their home match against Freiburg on Saturday. AFP

Leipzig's Yussuf Poulsen, left, and Nicolas Hoefler of Freiburg. AFP

Wolfsburg defender John Brooks heads into his own net against Augsburg. The match finished 2-1 to Wolfsburg. AFP

Wolfsburg's Daniel Ginczek, left, celebrates his late winner against Augsburg. AP

Augsburg's Tin Jedvaj receives treatment during match. Getty

The resumption of Bundesliga behind locked doors on Saturday was viewed by over six million fans in Germany, which is a new record for broadcasters Sky according to website DWDL.de.

When the German league resumed on Saturday afternoon after a two-month break due to the coronavirus, Sky had 3.68 million viewers watching the matches on it's subscription TV channels in Germany.

The domestic figure is more than double the usual audience for a typical round of Saturday matches.

In addition, 2.45 million viewers watched the 'Konferenz' – a simultaneous live broadcast of the five afternoon games, where coverage moved from stadium to stadium.

In the day's main game, Erling Braut Haaland scored the first German league goal since mid-March to help Borussia Dortmund rout rivals Schalke 4-0 and stay in the title race with Bayern Munich, who play Union Berlin away on Sunday.

According to AFP, matches were televised by more than 70 broadcasters worldwide, all on previously-agreed deals.

With Bundesliga matches played behind locked doors in near-empty stadiums, Sky Germany broadcast the 'Konferenz' on it's free-to-view Sports News Channel.

The idea was to discourage fans in Germany from meeting up to watch matches in places with a Sky subscription.

When Saturday afternoon's games kicked-off, Sky Germany had a market share of 27.4 percent on their pay-to-view channels and 18.2 percent on their free channel. In the target group of 14-49 year olds, the total market share was "over 60 percent", according to DWDL.de, a record for Sky Germany.

Having been granted permission to restart after the German government approved the league's strict hygiene guidelines, the Bundesliga is the first top European league to resume.

There are hopes the leagues in Italy, Spain and England can restart next month while the French league season has already been scrapped.