The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India has marked a historic milestone, emerging as the biggest-ever ICC event and shattering records in both broadcast and digital realms.
The tournament breached the 1 trillion total viewing minutes on broadcast, incorporating innovative features such as the vertical video feed. Compared to the 2011 edition in India, there was a remarkable 38% increase, and a 17% rise from the previous World Cup in the United Kingdom in 2019.
The highly anticipated final between India and Australia became the most-watched ICC match, accumulating 87.6 billion live viewing minutes globally, showcasing a 46% growth from the last time the hosts reached the final in 2011.
India played a significant role in the record-breaking statistics, contributing 422 billion viewing minutes on the Disney Star Network alone, witnessing a staggering 54% increase from 2011 and a 9% rise from 2019.
The surge in female viewership played a pivotal role in the overall growth, climbing from 32% in the 2011 edition to 34% in the current year, reflecting widespread enthusiasm for the host country’s tournament.
Outside India, substantial growth in broadcast numbers was noted in the United Kingdom and Australia. The UK witnessed over 800 hours of live coverage, resulting in more than 5.86 billion live viewing minutes. Australia contributed 3.79 billion minutes from 602 hours of live coverage, marking a notable 92% increase from 2011.
Australia’s success in the tournament translated into 9.1 million viewers, a three-million rise from 2019. Pakistan achieved unprecedented viewership, recording a total of 237.12 billion viewing minutes of live content.
Disney+ Hotstar’s decision to stream the World Cup for free in India resulted in peak concurrent viewership records being broken four times during the tournament, with the final attracting cricket’s highest concurrent audience ever.
The digital engagement during the 2023 World Cup was remarkable, with an astonishing 16.9 billion video views, making it the most digitally-engaged ICC event ever. The tournament surpassed the 2022 T20 World Cup with a massive 158% increase in digital engagement.
On social media, captivating moments like Glenn Maxwell’s resurrection and Virat Kohli’s hug with idol Sachin Tendulkar garnered millions of views. ICC’s partnership with Meta, including the Meta Creator Squad India, brought in 16.3 billion video plays across Meta channels.
The event witnessed a record-breaking number of users on both web and app platforms, reaching 97.5 million unique users, marking a 29% surge from the 2019 edition. The website page views soared to 704 million, reflecting a remarkable 96% increase compared to the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup.
