The 2023 Rugby World Cup in France has emerged as the most-watched rugby event in history, with South Africa playing a pivotal role in its success, according to World Rugby.
Boasting a 19% jump in viewership compared to the tournament held in Japan in 2019, the organizing body said that last year's showcase had an astounding 1.33 billion viewers across linear and non-linear broadcasts. time (VH) and revealed that it exceeded the 2015 tournament in the Northern Hemisphere by 30%. (1.01 billion VH), Japan in 2019 was 19% (1.11 billion VH).
The Springboks won back-to-back championships, winning an unprecedented four times and contributing to the world's highest viewership of 481 million VH. The final match between the Boks and All Blacks set a new record of 94 million VH, followed by the close quarter-final match between SA and Les Bleus, where they accumulated 69 million VH.
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Notably, eight of the markets surveyed have seen significant viewer growth, countering the global decline in linear TV. Great Britain came close to its 2015 record with 361 million VH, but emerging rugby markets such as Germany (15.2 million VH), Italy (16.1 million VH) and the United States (11.1 million VH) saw +27% and +70 We recorded an impressive growth rate of %. respectively, +136% compared to the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Despite the inconvenient time zone, Japan showed enthusiastic interest in rugby, with 86% of viewers coming from live programming.
World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin highlighted the continued growth of rugby and the company's commitment to making it a global phenomenon.
“As our sport continues to grow and explore new markets, we continue to work with our broadcast partners to enhance the viewing experience, especially for new audiences, and to make rugby a global sport for everyone. “We look forward to contributing to the achievement of our vision of becoming a global leader,” he added.
This article first appeared on sarugbymag.co.za. Reprinted here with permission. Click here for the original story.
