2023 Men's ODI World Cup in India has shattered attendance and broadcast viewership records.

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The recently concluded Cricket World Cup in India was the “most watched” edition in the country ever, broadcaster Disney+ Hotstar said in a statement.

As the dust settles on the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, with victorious Australia leaving a billion-plus Indians in a state of collective agony, it’s time to take note of the staggering numbers that defined this showpiece event.

Team India may have lost the crown, but the International Cricket Council (ICC) has dubbed the just-concluded World Cup “a statistical wonder”, with a plethora of records being set both on and off the field.

As the sole host of the World Cup for the first time, India hit new highs when it came to spectator attendance, viewership on television and digital, ad spends, and more.

The ICC said a total of 1,250,307 spectators watched the 48 games at the grounds in India, surpassing the previous record of 1,016,420 spectators during the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

The 2019 World Cup in England stands third with 752,000 spectators.

Disney Star said linear television viewership in India crossed more than half a billion with 518 million tuning in for the World Cup across the six weeks of the tournament.

Meanwhile, BCCI general secretary Jay Shah said that 30 crore fans watched the World Cup final between India and Australia on television, making it the most-watched event of any kind in Indian television history.

The peak TV “concurrency also reached a historic high of 13 Crore (peak digital concurrency was 5.9 Crore, also a world record).”

The ICC said in a statement that the World Cup had been “the most attended ICC event ever”.

Its chairman, Greg Barclay, said: “We are delighted with the success of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, which has been the biggest Cricket World Cup ever.

“The event has been the most attended ICC World Cup ever with records shattered across broadcast and digital showcasing the support and interest for the one-day game.”

The match between India and Pakistan garnered 75 million views.

This was the fourth time India had staged the men’s one-day international World Cup, first played in England in 1975.

Additional data from the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) revealed that a whopping 430 million viewers tuned in to watch the first 34 matches of the World Cup, collectively clocking 243.6 billion minutes of live watch-time.

This is a 10% increase over 2019. “The World Cup has captured the imagination of the public across India with records tumbling and hundreds of millions of fans enjoying the pinnacle event of the one-day game more than ever before,” ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice stated.

Advertising and consumption boost

As India stamped its authority on the tournament with an undefeated run of 10 matches until the final, media buyers forked out Rs 30-35 lakh for 10-second ad spots.

For the knockout matches featuring India, the spot rates are said to have been higher at Rs 40-45 lakh per 10 seconds. This is almost 5-6X the rate for non-India matches.

Propelled by the home team’s impressive run, with viewership rising every game, Star Sports is estimated to have raked in ad revenues of ~Rs 2,500 crore—a jump of 25% over the 2019 World Cup.

Disney+ Hotstar, meanwhile, brought in an additional ~Rs 950 crore, according to Elara Securities. These are astounding numbers, but nobody is batting an eyelid given the enormous cost of cricket advertising in India.

Nearly 200 brands across 50-odd categories advertised during the event.

India may have lost the coveted Cup, but these ancillary gains for the country cannot be overlooked.