Women’s sport in the UK: What do the latest viewing figures tell us?

The latest report from the Women's Sport Trust is extremely promising, outlining how people in the UK are spending more time watching women’s sport than ever before.

Between 1st January to 22nd October 2023, international women’s sporting events have attracted record-breaking audiences with viewers watching for 9 hours and 58 minutes on average. This is a 21% increase in minutes viewed per person from 2022.

International sporting events are continuing to gain traction, accelerating the rise in viewership. With football typically being the driving force in women’s sport, it is important to highlight that the interest is now expanding far beyond this.

Cricket, golf, netball, and rugby all recorded tremendous audience growth this year.

Specifically, women’s cricket and golf have dominated the scene, achieving record-breaking figures in 2023. Both were the most watched women’s sport on paid TV this year. Seven out of the ten highest viewed paid events were cricket related, with the most watched being the Women’s Ashes 3rd IT20, attracting a peak audience of 742,000.

Although 2023 presented itself as a groundbreaking year for women’s sport, it is disappointing to note that the overall viewing figures have in fact dropped.

According to the report, 36.2 million people watched more than 3 minutes of women’s sport this year, a slight decrease from the 38.9 million in 2022. This year’s figure also falls below 2019, which recorded 39.8 million viewers.

Below is a breakdown of the viewing figures within the key sports:

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CRICKET

England cricket has been a driver in women’s viewing figures in 2023, attracting its highest audience on record. This summer saw an incredible rise in viewers with 7.4 million watching England women's cricket for 3 minutes or more, a significant jump from the 6.2 million recorded in 2022.

Based on total viewing hours, women’s cricket accounts for 56% of the total women’s sport on Sky Sports, considerably larger than the WSL (Women’s Super League) accounting for only 11%.

However, despite their international viewing success, domestic cricket has suffered a decrease in viewership.

The Women’s Hundred tournament saw average audiences drop from 219,000 in 2021, to 185,000 in 2023 - a 15.5% decline. The scheduling of this year’s tournament meant there were no evening games which could have easily influenced viewing figures.

Clashes between both the men’s and women’s matches also had a significant effect. Games that did not clash had an average audience 259% larger than games affected by scheduling conflicts.

The difference in average audiences between free-to-air channels and paid TV channels is also noteworthy:

• 24 matches aired on Sky Sports attracting an average audience of 134,000.

• 5 matches aired on BBC2 and Sky Sports simultaneously, attracting an average audience of 428,000.

FOOTBALL

The BBC’s coverage of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup attracted an overall audience of 21.2 million. The total viewing hours were the highest ever for a women’s global football tournament, with people in the UK watching for an average of 6 hours 45 minutes.

The nail biting final between England’s Lionesses and Spain generated an average audience of 13.3 million, setting a new UK record for a women’s football match. Additionally, the World Cup pulled in a new demographic of female viewers, with a new record high of 42%.

Mirroring women’s cricket, domestic football is failing to experience the same growth as international tournaments. The opening 10 games of the 2023/24 WSL season has seen a 25.8% decline in viewing hours compared to the opening 10 games last season. This is partially due to the decrease in WSL coverage, with viewing hours down from 9.3 million (22/23) to 6.9 million (23/24).

WSL viewing figures across Sky Sports and the BBC:

• Sky Sports has seen a 20.5% drop in their average audience, falling from 166,000 (22/23) to 132,000 (23/24).

• The BBC has seen a slight improvement in their average audience, increasing from 444,000 (22/23) to 452,000 (23/24).

This rise was influenced by the BBC showcasing the 2nd most watched WSL match on record between Arsenal and Aston Villa, generating an average audience of 746,000.

GOLF

This year’s Solheim Cup was the most watched ever on Sky Sports. Attracting a record-breaking peak audience of 734,000 and an average live audience of 263,000. It was the most viewed and covered tournament to date. With these impressive figures, the 3-day event became the 4th highest women’s sport peak ever on Sky Sports.

The tournament was watched for a total of 9.5 million hours, a notable jump from 6.3 million in 2021. More importantly, the event pulled in a new audience for women’s golf with 33% of viewers not having watched the Ryder Cup.

NETBALL & RUGBY

• The 2023 Netball World Cup recorded an audience reach of 5.6 million, a rise from the 4.5 million in 2019.

• The Women’s Six Nations was the most viewed on record, with UK viewing hours hitting 10.4 million, compared to 7.7 million in 2022.

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This year has seen women’s sport breaking viewership records across the board.

It is particularly refreshing to see sports like golf and cricket achieving monumental growth, suggesting there is now significant interest in sports far beyond football. The diverse range of women’s sport showcased on our screens is extremely encouraging.

Major international events such as the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Solheim Cup and the Women’s Ashes all contributed to the record-breaking viewership in women’s sport in 2023. These drivers are key to improving awareness and entering a new phase of visibility.

However, the main focus is translating the appeal of international events into regular, domestic viewing.

The report outlined how week in week out viewing suffered this year. If we take the WSL for example, it is interesting how stadium attendance is on the rise, but this growth is not reflected in TV viewership. Arguably this could be a result of the issues surrounding free-to-air platforms versus paid TV services. Free-to-air games attract a considerable larger audience in both domestic and international play, which raises the question as to why the WSL are broadcasting more matches on Sky Sports.

If we want to see TV audiences grow, surely it would be beneficial to ensure games are easily accessible?

Women’s sport has only broken onto the scene in the last decade, meaning there is still space for testing and learning. A breadth of sports are pulling in unique audiences, creating huge opportunity for women’s sport to separate themselves from the men.

But ultimately viewing figures are essential.

We now need to shift the focus from international viewership and reflect that success into domestic competitions.

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A link to the full report and presentation can be found here.