Turkish football powerhouse Galatasaray made headlines by unveiling Leroy Sané in a high-profile signing from Bayern Munich, and it did so in spectacular fashion. The club's livestream on YouTube drew a staggering 3.2 million Peak Viewers (PV), propelling its channel into the global top three for live audiences in 2025.
The announcement follows Galatasaray’s 25th league title celebration and the addition of a symbolic fifth star to its kit. With Sané’s signing, the Istanbul club isn’t just building a stronger squad; it’s redefining fan engagement on a global scale.
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The buzz around Sané’s move came from its sheer unpredictability. Despite months of speculation about his Bayern exit, his next destination remained a mystery until official confirmation dropped just a day ago. Riding the wave, Galatasaray launched a viral YouTube stream showing only a live Flightradar feed, tracking Sané’s flight from Munich to Istanbul. That alone drew 1.1 million Peak Viewers. But the real show was still to come.
Shortly after Sane arrived in Istanbul, the Turkish football powerhouse aired another brief livestream. The broadcast captured him emerging to greet fans immediately after clearing passport control and customs. During the stream, Sane received club merchandise and posed for photos, drawing an astonishing peak audience of 3.2 million live viewers. This unquestionably set a new record as the biggest livestream ever hosted by a football club.
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Galatasaray boasts a massive global fanbase, but if we consider that the livestream audience consisted solely of Turkish viewers, the broadcast reached more than 3.7% of Turkey’s entire population!
The livestream of Sane’s arrival smashed the previous peak viewership record for football club streams by a staggering 136.7%. The previous record was held by Paris Saint-Germain, whose channel attracted over 1.3 million live viewers during a friendly against Riyadh Season Team, a match famous for the final on-field encounter between legends Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
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But the milestones don’t stop there. Galatasaray’s YouTube channel now firmly holds third place worldwide for peak live audiences in 2025, surpassed only by the Campeonato Paulista final between Corinthians and Palmeiras, which drew 5.1 million viewers, and the exciting ASEAN Championship final between Thailand and Vietnam, with 4.8 million live viewers.
Even beyond just 2025, this livestream stands out as a major event. Looking at the full span from 2020 to 2025, Galatasaray’s channel still ranks comfortably within the top 10 for peak live viewership.
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The monumental Galatasaray livestream not only set new records but also cemented football’s dominance in global livestreaming in 2025. With the top three broadcasts worldwide all being football-related, spanning Brazilian, Southeast Asian, and now Turkish audiences, it’s clear that the sport’s universal appeal and passionate fan bases continue to drive some of the largest and most engaged live viewerships on the planet.
