The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India set new benchmarks, crossing the 1 trillion total viewing minutes on broadcast, featuring innovations like the vertical video feed. Compared to the 2011 edition, there was a remarkable 38% surge in viewership in India, and a 17% increase from the 2019 World Cup in the UK.
The highly anticipated final between India and Australia became the most-watched ICC match globally, accumulating 87.6 billion live viewing minutes, indicating a 46% rise from India’s previous final in 2011.
India played a pivotal role, contributing 422 billion viewing minutes on the Disney Star Network alone, a staggering 54% increase from 2011 and 9% from 2019. Female viewership showed a notable rise from 32% in 2011 to 34% in 2023.
Beyond India, the UK and Australia also experienced substantial growth in broadcast numbers. The UK had over 5.86 billion minutes of live viewing from 800 hours of coverage, while Australia contributed 3.79 billion minutes, marking a 92% increase from 2011.
Australia’s success drove a three-million increase in viewership, reaching 9.1 million for the 2023 World Cup.
Pakistan achieved unprecedented viewership with a total of 237.12 billion viewing minutes of live content.
On the digital front, the World Cup broke records with 16.9 billion video views, surpassing the 2022 T20 World Cup by 158%. Social media engagement was also massive, with moments like Glenn Maxwell’s resurgence and Virat Kohli’s records attracting millions of views.
The emphasis on digital engagement may overshadow the essence of the sport and live stadium experience.
