Interesting Cricket Viewership Statistics in 2024

Cricket is the second most followed by sports fans worldwide. There were 104 member countries in the International Cricket Council, 4,200 professional cricketers worldwide, and 30 million registered players.

While millions of children and adults watch this game in cricketing countries like India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and England, it is still a niche sport in terms of geography.

This article will get you into the world of Cricket Viewership Statistics and help you understand the sport that’s looked up by many.

Highlights of the Article

• The Hundred tournament in 2021 had 21% women attendees.
• 41% of women watched the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019.
• Cricket in the US had 1/100 viewers.
• The most-watched Cricket match worldwide in 2019 was India vs. Pakistan.
• Australia’s most-watched Cricket game in 2019 was Australia vs. England semi-final match.
• England’s population accounted for 65% of Cricket followers.
• Almost 1.1 billion Indians follow Cricket religiously.
• 90% of Australians watch Cricket on TV yearly.
• With 25.3 million viewers, India has the most concurrent livestream viewership.

 

How Many Watch Cricket Games?

Cricket is a highly anticipated game worldwide, with 2.5 billion spectators from Asia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. It is also popular in countries with Test Cricket, a more exclusive club.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) typically draws over 100 million watchers per match. Big TV audiences also follow short-format matches in most cricketing nations.

Let’s get to know the fanbase of this team sport.

Cricket Viewer Demographics

Research participants aged 16 to 69 comprise over one billion Cricket fanbase worldwide. Most fans were 34, accounting for 61% male and 39% female.

Cricket is a source of entertainment for new and diehard fans, and it’s interesting to see children and families joining the action.

This bat-and-ball game is popular among the statistics shown below.

1. 21% of women attended The Hundred tournament in 2021.

(Insider Sport)

England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) new 100-ball franchise tournament is a game-changer for Women’s Cricket. It broke record after record, inspiring girls and boys to watch and play the game.

Sold tickets for the 2021 tournament accounted for the following:

• Children – 19%
• Women – 21%
• Under 45 – 59%

Additionally, 57% of viewers hadn’t watched any other live ECB cricket in 2021, and 55% of ticket buyers hadn’t bought a ticket for Cricket in the UK before the tournament’s creation.

2. Women represented 41% of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 audience.

(ICC)

Women are equally hooked to Cricket, mainly for their love for the sport (60%), love for their favorite team (50%), and format preferences (46%).

32% of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 viewers were 18 to 34, indicating the potential of the sport to connect and be more inclusive with its global audiences.

3. 53% of urban Indians regularly follow Cricket.

(YouGov)

Cricket maintains a firm hold on its traditional markets, giving the highest viewership share among other sports worldwide.

These are the viewership rate among other nationalities:

• South Africans: 39% 
• Australians: 26%
• Emiratis: 24%
• Brits: 15%

4. One in 100 consumers supports Cricket in the US.

(YouGov)

Cricket’s reach is limited despite having billions of fans worldwide. The 2028 Olympics host, the USA, only had 1% of viewers. The sport has long been waiting to break into the US market, but the lack of media exposure creates low representation.

Other countries with low proportions of consumers are shown below:

• Saudi Arabia: 8%
• Ireland: 7%
• Morocco: 4%
• Canada: 3%

Egypt, Singapore, Malaysia, Turkey, China, Indonesia, and Lebanon accounted for 2% and 1% for Netherlands and Poland.

Statistics on Most Watched Cricket Matches

With 95% interested fans, it is evident that ICC global events are popular, with their World Cup and World T20 being the most attended.

64% of fans over 16 show interest in all three international game formats:

• Test: 60% 
• ODIs: 88% 
• T20Is: 92% 

Find out what matches are highly watched by fans.

5. India vs Pakistan was the most-watched Cricket game worldwide in 2019.

(ICC)

One of the world’s most heated sporting rivalries in Cricket is between these neighboring countries during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019. The rivalry game is frequently called Cricket’s “El Clasico.”

The match is one of the biggest games in the world, having 273 million unique viewers on linear TV coverage and 50 million online viewers.

6. Australia vs. England semi-final match in 2019 was Australia’s most-watched Cricket game.

(ICC)

In Australia, 6.1 million general audiences watched the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019. 2.1 million were unique viewers who watched the semi-final match between Australia and England.

Here are the countries with viewership growth from 2015 to 2019:

• Pakistan: 37%
• Bangladesh: 35%
• Sri Lanka: 11%

7. The most-watched ICC event was Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019.

(ICC)

With a 1.6 billion global audience for live coverage and 706 million unique broadcast audiences, the 2019 World Cup was the most-viewed ICC event. Viewership for the tournament grew to 38% from 2015.

The event’s average time watched per unique viewer also increased by 42%. This showcases the reach and effect of Live Cricket worldwide. 

8. The Hundred Tournament recorded 34.3 million television viewers in 2021.

(Insider Sport)

The women’s matches attracted 267,000 spectators, breaking the previous 136,000 set by the Women’s T20 World Cup in 2020. This is the largest crowd at a women’s cricket tournament worldwide.

While the series-opener had 1,215,000 viewers on BBC alone, the finals had the most views, with 2.4 million for the men’s game and 1.4 million for the women’s.

Statistics on Cricket Viewership By Country

The statistics below prove that India is Cricket’s home. Its popularity can be attributed to former British colonies that emigrated from Britain to tour the world in the 18th and 19th centuries. 

Since then, Cricket has grown incredibly popular, especially in the “sub-continent” countries Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

When searching for “cricket” on the Internet, its viewership is widespread among these countries:

9. 65% of England’s population follows Cricket.

(SQaF, ICC)

Behind football, England’s second-most popular and traditional summer sport is Cricket. With over 181,000 people playing the game at least twice a month, it’s no surprise that two-thirds of its population follows Cricket.

England’s win in the Cricket World Cup 2019 gained 15.4 million viewers on Sky Sports, Channel 4, and More 4. The numbers peaked during the decisive Super Over, with 8.92 million tuned in on pay-TV networks on Channel 4 or Sky.

10. The majority of India’s 1.1 billion population follows Cricket religiously.

(SQaF)

In 2018, 93% of Indian sports viewers subscribed to cricket content. Of the 766 million viewers sampled content in 2018, impressions grew from 43 billion in 2016 to 51 billion. The annual growth rate is 9%.

Indians consider Cricket as their religion. The Indian Premier League is the largest competition, with dozens of first-class teams, and top personalities like Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar are praised by many.

11. Australia accounts for 90% of the population watching Cricket on TV yearly.

(Cricket Australia)

Australia’s summer sport is Cricket. It has 1.5 million registered players, with about 1 out of 20 Australians playing. Its popularity was evident during the domestic season, with 485.33 million viewers and 93.31 million social media engagements.

The T20 World Cup and Weber WWL’s success gained 31% viewers in 2022. While over one million nationwide viewers watched 24 Men’s Test Match sessions, indicating the sport’s growing audiences.

12. India has the most concurrent livestream viewership, with 25.3 million.

(Business Insider India)

India leads in live matches viewed online. India vs. New Zealand semi-final match in 2019 made a world record for the highest concurrent livestream viewership ever.

Indian fans heightened by millions per minute, but the number dropped when MS Dhoni was out of the game. Ravindra Jadeja’s return at a crucial time increased the viewership from 14.8 million to 25.3 million.

Conclusion

This is an exciting time for Cricket. More people are watching Cricket on various platforms for more extended periods.

The fact that fans watch the live matches on digital platforms shows how they take the sport differently and how eager they are to become immersed in it. 

This growing Cricket fandom will likely expand with a better understanding of the cricket calendar and make it a more available sport to follow.