The Rugby World Cup 2023 in France has established itself as the most widely viewed rugby event in history. The tournament garnered an impressive 1.33 billion viewing hours (VH) across all linear and non-linear broadcast programming. This represents a significant 30 per cent increase in viewership compared to the 2015 event in England, and an outstanding 19 per cent increase compared to the 2019 event in Japan.
France, as the host country, achieved the highest viewership worldwide, with a total of 481 million VH, despite their national team exiting at the quarter-final stage. Despite a general decline in linear TV viewership globally, eight of the 11 markets surveyed experienced substantial growth in viewership since 2015. The United Kingdom, for example, witnessed a noteworthy surge, approaching the 2015 record set when England hosted the event, despite an overall drop in linear TV viewership in the country.
Surprisingly, the sport’s popularity has been on the rise in emerging markets such as Germany, Italy, and the United States, with viewership experiencing significant increases ranging from 27 per cent to a remarkable 136 per cent compared to 2015.
The RWC final between South Africa and New Zealand recorded the highest viewing hours of any match globally, amassing an impressive 94 million VH. Meanwhile, the France v South Africa quarter-final followed closely with 69 million VH.
In order to reach as many fans as possible, World Rugby collaborated with free-to-air broadcast partners in most markets, which proved to be highly successful as free-to-air TV accounted for 85 per cent of global viewership for the France 2023 event.
Furthermore, the top 10 performing channels were all free-to-air, with outstanding performances from TF1 and ITV1 in European markets, recording 322 million and 295 million viewing hours respectively. There was also a global trend towards streaming services, with ITVX, the streaming platform from a UK broadcaster, ranking as the eighth most viewed channel of RWC2023, acquiring 27 million VH.
Despite Japan hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2019, the country still ranked as the third most popular for RWC 2023, accumulating 175.9 million VH over the seven-week period. This demonstrates a 221 per cent increase from England 2015, showing the lasting impact of a home Rugby World Cup and the growth of rugby in the region.
World Rugby Chief Executive, Alan Gilpin, expressed his delight at the overwhelming success of Rugby World Cup 2023. He emphasized the fantastic tournament on and off the field, the continued growth and expansion of the sport into new markets, and the efforts to enhance the viewing experience, especially for new audiences.
The comprehensive report on Rugby World Cup 2023 broadcast audiences was conducted by Futures Sport+Entertainment, a member of the Interpublic Group, portraying the thoroughness and credibility of the reporting. This detailed report strategically combines existing data sources, proprietary tools, and customised research to offer valuable insights into the reach and impact of the sport.