Cricket audiences now span broadcast television, streaming platforms, websites, apps, and social video. The figures below show the scale of that reach across major men’s and women’s competitions, with measurement periods and geographies kept explicit.
Contents
- ICC Men’s World Cup reach
- The 2023 World Cup final
- Digital engagement and social video
- Champions Trophy comparisons
- Women’s cricket audiences
- England and the Ashes
- IPL television and streaming
ICC Men’s World Cup reach
The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 produced more than 1 trillion global live viewing minutes on broadcast. According to the ICC, that total was 38% higher than the 2011 edition in the Indian sub-continent and 17% higher than the 2019 World Cup in the United Kingdom. These comparisons describe live viewing minutes, not unique people.
The tournament also generated substantial early momentum. The first 18 matches attracted 364.2 million live broadcast viewers, which the ICC described as a record early-tournament audience. Australia’s matches were watched by 9.1 million people, 3 million more than in 2019. The geography in that Australia figure is the Australian audience for Australia’s matches, while the tournament-wide live-minute totals are global.
| 2023 World Cup measure | Reported result | Comparison or scope |
|---|---|---|
| Global live broadcast viewing | Over 1 trillion minutes | 38% above 2011; 17% above 2019 |
| First 18 matches | 364.2 million viewers | Early-tournament audience |
| Australia matches | 9.1 million viewers | 3 million above 2019 |
| Unique web and app users | 97.5 million | 29% above 2019 |
| Website page views | 704 million | 96% above the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup |
The ICC reported 97.5 million unique users across the World Cup’s web and app products, 29% above the 2019 edition. Those digital products also recorded 704 million website page views, 96% higher than the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup. A unique user and a page view measure different kinds of activity, so they should not be added together.
The 2023 World Cup final
The India versus Australia final was one of the largest individual cricket broadcasts in the supplied ICC figures. It generated 87.6 billion global live viewing minutes, 46% higher than the last time the hosts reached the final in 2011. The ICC also reported a peak television audience of 130 million for the final.
India-specific television figures were larger when expressed as total people watching on linear TV. The final was watched by 300 million people on linear television alone in India. The ICC said this made it the most-watched cricket match on Indian television. The 300 million figure is an Indian linear-TV audience, while the 87.6 billion figure is global live viewing minutes; they are not equivalent measures.
Streaming added another major peak. The final broke the peak concurrent-viewer record four times on Disney+ Hotstar. The available ICC figures identify the repeated record breaks but do not provide a single peak number for the final itself.
The tournament’s strongest streaming peak before the final came in the India versus New Zealand match in Dharamsala, which reached 43 million concurrent viewers on Disney+ Hotstar. “Concurrent viewers” indicates simultaneous viewing at a point in time, unlike total viewers across a match or minutes watched across a tournament.
Digital engagement and social video
The ICC reported 16.9 billion video views across its platforms during the 2023 World Cup. That was 158% above the previous record, set by the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup. The 16.9 billion total made the 2023 World Cup the most digitally engaged ICC event in the ICC’s reporting.
The tournament had already accumulated 6.64 billion video views at its halfway point. That halfway total was 127% above the same stage of the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup and 314% above the 2019 World Cup. The halfway result is a progress measurement within the event, whereas 16.9 billion is the reported tournament total.
Meta activity formed a large part of this social-video reach. ICC channels on Meta produced 16.3 billion video plays during the event: 9.7 billion on Facebook and 6.6 billion on Instagram. At the tournament halfway point, Facebook alone had delivered 4 billion video views and Instagram had delivered 2.5 billion.
Individual moments also attracted large audiences on Instagram. Glenn Maxwell’s “resurrection from pain” clip generated 50 million views. Virat Kohli’s hug with Sachin Tendulkar generated 40 million views, while Kohli’s wicket of Scott Edwards generated 39 million video plays. These are clip-level Instagram results reported by the ICC, not additional unique viewers for the whole tournament.
Champions Trophy comparisons
The ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 delivered 368 billion global viewing minutes, 19% above the 2017 edition. The tournament also generated 308 million global viewing minutes per over. Per-over viewing minutes describe an average rate across overs and should not be treated as a unique-audience count.
| Champions Trophy 2025 measure | Reported result | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Tournament viewing | 368 billion minutes | Global |
| Viewing per over | 308 million minutes | Global average measure |
| India–New Zealand final | 65.3 billion minutes | Global live viewing |
| India coverage | 29 channels | India |
| India coverage | 9 languages | India |
| Amazon Prime Video change | 65% increase | Australia versus 2017 |
The India versus New Zealand final produced 65.3 billion global live viewing minutes. The ICC reported that this was 52.1% above the 2017 Champions Trophy final and made it the third most-watched ICC match ever globally by live watch time. The ranking is based on the ICC’s global live-watch-time measure, not on peak concurrent viewers.
In India, coverage ran across 29 channels and nine languages. In Australia, Amazon Prime Video recorded a 65% increase in viewership compared with the 2017 Champions Trophy. The two figures describe different markets and distribution measures, so they provide context rather than a direct platform-to-platform comparison.
Women’s cricket audiences
The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2018 became the most watched women’s cricket event ever in the ICC’s reporting, with 1.1 billion video views across ICC digital channels. The same event produced 5.4 billion viewing minutes in India. Those figures use different units and scopes: global digital video views versus India viewing minutes.
Attendance also demonstrated the event’s reach. The 2018 Women’s T20 World Cup final drew 86,174 spectators, which the ICC identified as the record attendance for a women’s sport match in Australia.
The 2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup drew more than 91,030 fans in total, a 30% increase from the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup. Its final attracted 21,457 fans in Dubai, 68% higher than the 2023 final. The group and semi-final stages drew 69,573 fans, 21% above the previous edition’s corresponding figure.
The 2024 tournament figures are attendance counts, not broadcast or streaming audiences. They therefore show in-person demand and complement, rather than replace, the digital and television measures reported for other competitions.
England and the Ashes
ECB cricket coverage in 2023 reached 21.9 million unique television viewers and delivered 323 million total TV viewing hours. The reported audience included 28.1% female viewers and 13% of viewers aged 16–34. The unique-viewer total and total-hours figure measure reach and time spent differently.
The Ashes generated 46.9 million digital engagements and 609 million video views across ECB digital channels for the combined Ashes. BBC Sport’s Ashes pages recorded 496 million page views. These are digital actions or visits, not necessarily unique people.
The first men’s Test in the Ashes reached a peak TV audience of 2.12 million. Women’s cricket also recorded strong year-on-year changes in the ECB figures: the Women’s Test in the Ashes rose 167% to 168,000 viewers, while Women’s ODIs in the Ashes rose 49% to 166,000 viewers. ECB women’s cricket collectively reached 7.4 million viewers in 2023.
The 168,000 and 166,000 results are event-specific audience figures, while 7.4 million is a collective annual reach. The percentages describe increases reported by the ECB and do not by themselves establish the earlier audience totals.
IPL television and streaming
IPL 2024 produced several large audience estimates and platform reports, especially for its opening matches and first 26 or 51 matches. BARC data showed 510 million viewers across the first 51 matches, a figure also reported by Business Standard. Star Sports reported the same 510 million-viewer total across those first 51 matches.
| IPL 2024 measure | Reported result | Source label |
|---|---|---|
| First 51 matches | 510 million viewers | Business Standard / BARC data |
| First 10 matches | 350 million TV viewers | CricBlog |
| First 26 matches | 450 million TV viewers | Economic Times |
| Opening day | 168 million TV viewers | Economic Times |
| Streaming overall | 620 million viewers | Business Standard / JioCinema |
| Streaming watch time | Over 350 billion minutes | Wikipedia summary of IPL 2024 / widely reported JioCinema figure |
Economic Times reported that the first 26 matches drew 45 crore TV viewers, compared with 36.4 crore for the same stage in 2023. That is the same 450 million-versus-364 million framing in crore units. Economic Times also reported 16.8 crore TV viewers for the opening day, equivalent to 168 million.
JioCinema reported 59 crore views for IPL 2024 and said viewership grew 53% versus IPL 2023. Business Standard reported JioCinema’s 2,600 crore reach, a 75-minute average watch time, and 620 million streaming viewers overall. The 75-minute average was up from more than 60 minutes in the previous season. JioCinema also reported more than 350 billion minutes of streaming watch time, with the figure described as a widely reported result in a Wikipedia summary of IPL 2024.
Moneycontrol reported that IPL 2024 television ratings were 17% higher than the previous year. Because the IPL figures come from different broadcasters, measurement systems, periods, and source reports, viewers, views, reach, ratings, and watch time should be read as separate indicators of cricket’s audience scale.