Records tumble as millions of fans tune in to WC 2023

Chennai: The ongoing ICC's quadrennial 2023 event has set more record-breaking numbers as hundreds of millions of fans engage with the biggest Cricket World Cup ever.The event that started on October 5 and runs till November 19, has seen fans in India through Global Broadcast partner Disney Star consuming more Men’s Cricket World Cup cricket than ever before.

The live broadcast for the first 18 tournament matches has clocked up 123.8 billion viewing minutes which is a 43% growth compared to the previous edition in England and Wales in 2019, an ICC statement said.

The World Cup has also witnessed an incredible 364.2 million viewers tuning in to the live broadcast of the first 18 matches of the tournament, with fans enjoying the very best of cricket in one day, combined with the unique Indian passion for the sport and the national pride of all competing nations creating an unrivalled global sporting occasion.

The monumental clash between India and Pakistan played on October 14 in Ahmedabad witnessed a peak live concurrency on television of 76 million and 35 million concurrent viewers on digital.

India’s clash against New Zealand in Dharamsala on October 22 eclipsed the record for highest digital concurrency set by the India-Pakistan clash when it witnessed 43 million concurrent viewers on Disney+ Hotstar during the final overs of the match. This was the highest peak across any format of cricket ever on digital.

Fans inside the venue have been able to enjoy the true celebration of the best all-round cricket experience with a total of more than 542,000 fans attending matches up to the mid-way point in the event, which is 190,000 more than at the equivalent stage in 2019.

ICC Chief Executive, Geoff Allardice said: “We are delighted to see the interest and engagement in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 through the unbelievable audience numbers on Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar. The World Cup has captured the imagination of the public across India with records tumbling and hundreds of millions of fans enjoying the pinnacle event of the one-day game more than ever before.”

Sanjog Gupta, Head - Sports, Disney Star said: “Marquee Cricket continues to demonstrate unparalleled capacity to aggregate audiences across platforms and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 has set new viewership benchmarks on Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar. With the Indian team’s strong performance, the fluctuating fortunes of top teams, and a competitive points table, we expect a further increase in the momentum of the tournament. Disney Star is committed to serving sports fans and will continue to delight viewers around the world with its coverage of the global event."(UNI)<>