The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, hosted in India, has set unprecedented records in global broadcast and digital viewership, solidifying its status as the biggest World Cup in history.
Australia's triumph in the event marked their sixth World Cup win, and the tournament itself registered an astonishing 1 trillion global live viewing minutes of broadcast. This milestone was achieved through innovative features such as the vertical video feed, enhancing the viewing experience on mobile devices.
Compared to the 2011 edition in the Indian sub-continent, global live viewing hours witnessed a substantial 38% increase, and a 17% rise compared to the 2019 edition held in the United Kingdom.
The final between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium, the world's largest cricket stadium, became the most-watched ICC match ever, accumulating 87.6 billion live viewing minutes globally. This represented a remarkable 46% growth compared to the 2011 final featuring India and Sri Lanka.
The event was broadcast by 20 partners across 209 territories, with Hindi coverage available outside India for the first time through ESPN+, Fox Sports, Sky Sports, and Willow TV.
ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice expressed delight at the record-breaking viewership, emphasizing the increasing global appetite for ICC events and engaging content.
In India, the World Cup achieved the status of the most-watched Cricket World Cup ever, garnering 422 billion viewing minutes on the Disney Star Network alone. This marked a staggering 54% increase from 2011 and a significant 9% rise from 2019. The tournament was broadcast on 22 channels in nine languages, showcasing five times more coverage than in 2011.
Female viewership share increased from 32% in 2011 to 34% in 2023, and the final between India and Australia became the most-watched Men’s Cricket World Cup match ever in India, with a peak TV audience of 130 million and a total of 300 million viewers on the Disney Star network.
In the United Kingdom, the 2023 edition became the most broadcast tournament, witnessing a 24% increase in live viewing minutes compared to 2011. Australia also experienced a significant boost in viewership, with a 92% increase in live viewing minutes compared to 2011.
Pakistan, South Africa, and the United States also recorded remarkable increases in viewership, with the decision to offer free mobile coverage via Disney+ Hotstar in India resulting in 295 million live tournament viewers.
The digital platform Disney+ Hotstar broke five world records for digital peak concurrency during the event, with the final achieving cricket’s highest concurrent audience ever and making history at four other matches during the World Cup.
(With Agency Inputs)
