The 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup in India set new records for ICC events, with over 1 trillion total viewing minutes across broadcast and digital platforms. This historic tournament introduced exciting technological innovations like the vertical video feed.
In the latest edition of the ICC tournament in India, there was a significant increase in viewership compared to previous years. The number of viewers went up by 38% from the 2011 edition and by 17% from the 2019 World Cup in the United Kingdom.
The highly anticipated final match between India and Australia broke records by becoming the most-watched ICC match ever, with a staggering 87.6 billion live viewing minutes worldwide. This was a 46% increase from the last time India hosted the final in 2011.
India, as the host country, played a massive role in these impressive numbers. The Disney Star Network alone recorded 422 billion viewing minutes, which was a remarkable 54% increase from 2011 and a 9% increase from 2019.
The growth in female viewership also contributed to the overall increase, rising from 32% in the 2011 edition to 34% in the current year. This reflects the widespread excitement generated by India’s hosting of the tournament.
Even outside of India, there was substantial growth in viewership, particularly in the United Kingdom and Australia. The UK saw 800 hours of live coverage, resulting in over 5.86 billion minutes of live viewing. Australia, too, had a significant increase, with 3.79 billion minutes of viewing from 602 hours of live coverage, marking a remarkable 92% growth from 2011.
Pakistan had a huge number of people watching live content, with a total of 237.12 billion minutes viewed.
Disney Hotstar decided to show the World Cup for free in India, and this was one of the main reasons for increase in widespread viewership. The final match of the tournament had the most viewers ever for a cricket match.
| Match | Viewers |
| India vs. Australia (Final) | 59 Million |
| India vs. New Zealand (Semi-Final) | 53 Million |
| India vs. South Africa | 44 Million |
| India vs. New Zealand (Group Match) | 43 Million |
| India vs. Pakistan | 35 Million |
The tournament set new digital records with a whopping 16.9 billion video views, making it the most engaged ICC event online.
On social media, a fun video of Glenn Maxwell’s comeback against Afghanistan gained a massive 50 million views. Star Indian batter Virat Kohli also had a big presence, with a video of his hug with cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar getting 40 million views on Instagram.
Meanwhile, Kohli’s achievement of breaking his ODI centuries record and picking up a wicket against the Netherlands’ Scott Edwards also generated significant attention, with 78 million and 39 million video plays on Instagram, respectively.
