The first four months of 2023 have seen record TV viewing figures for women’s sport in the UK, according to data from Futures Sport & Entertainment.
The growth was driven by coverage of the Women’s Six Nations, the Women’s Super League and the ICC T20 World Cup.
From 1 January-30 April, 20.6 million people watched at least three minutes or more of women’s sport, including many new to viewing women’s sport.
This is up from 18.9 million in the same period in 2022.
The 2023 Six Nations, which saw England lift the trophy for the fifth time in a row, was watched for a total of 10.4 million hours in the UK – the longest in history. And of those tuning in, 42% were women – up from 37% last year.
Meanwhile, domestic football has seen 15.3 million viewers so far this year, already beating the 14.6 million viewers for the entire 2021-22 season. There was a 9% increase in female viewers of the Women’s Super League.
Away from club football, England’s success in the Arnold Clark Cup was watched by 1.5 million more people than last year.
As for cricket, an average of 150,000 viewers watched every game as England made it to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup – up from 138,000 in 2020.
The entire tournament had 7.11 million viewing hours – 1.34 million more than the previous best in 2018.
Women’s Sport Trust (WST) chief executive Tammy Parlour said the figures show “the unstoppable rise of women’s sport” once again.
“It is hugely encouraging to see that a number of sports are attracting record audiences in the first four months of 2023,” she added.
The WST is a leading UK charity which aims to raise the visibility and strengthen the impact of women’s sport in the UK.
