The ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 has broken major viewership records in India as its TV ratings surged to the highest ever for a multi-nation cricket tournament. The eight-team tournament secures 23 per cent higher rating than ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on television. The live broadcast of the event received a total watch time of 137 billion minutes on Star Sports (TV) and 110 billion minutes on JioHotstar (Digital), the ICC said in a release. The final between India and New Zealand in Dubai on March 9 touched a peak concurrency of 122 million live viewers on TV and 61 million on JioHotstar, a record for digital viewership in cricket.
The ICC also said that the final also became the second-highest rated ODI in TV history (outside of ICC Cricket World Cup matches) with 230 million viewers tuning in for the live broadcast with 53 billion minutes of watch-time across TV & Digital platforms.
The high-profile league encounter between archrivals India and Pakistan became one of the most watched ODI matches ever in India, clocking over 26 billion minutes of watch-time on linear TV as per figures released by the Broadcast Audience Research Council.
The chartbuster achieved an impressive 10.8 per cent higher television rating than the India-Pakistan match in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 played in Ahmedabad that had registered 19.5 billion linear viewing minutes compared to 26.5 billion minutes in the Champions Trophy match.
The high-stakes encounter, played to a packed house in Dubai on February 23, was witnessed by a record 206 million people on linear TV.
“The Champions Trophy made an amazing return after eight years and the viewership numbers from India have been overwhelming, in particular the final between India and New Zealand. The incredible viewership numbers highlight the mass appeal that cricket has in India and how taking ICC events to audiences in different languages can significantly boost fan engagement. The success of the Champions Trophy marketing strategy is evident, creating excitement in existing and new fanbases, complimented by highly exciting cricket throughout the event,” ICC chair Jay Shah said.
“This accomplishment is a result of the combined strength of the widest, most deeply penetrated multi-platform destination for sports, the fan-focussed story-telling approach of the JioStar ‘mega-casts’ and our superior technological capabilities. India’s unbeaten, title-winning campaign further fuelled the passion of the fans and drove the spike in viewership for the final,” CEO Sports, Jio Star, Sanjog Gupta said.
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