U.K. Doubles Women’s Sports Viewership From 2021

The increasing popularity of women’s sports is undeniable, especially in the U.K.

Over 36.1 million people watched women’s sports between January and July of this year in the U.K. — more than double the 17.5 million people that watched during the same period in 2021, according to the Women’s Sport Trust.

Not only were more people watching, but each individual’s average viewing time across all programming increased 188% year-over-year.

• Audiences watched women’s sports for an average of 403 minutes between January and July, compared with 140 during the same period last year.
• 57% of viewers watched women’s sports three or more times, an increase from 26% last year.

There’s no question that the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 helped — the tournament’s final was the most-watched soccer game ever in the U.K. with a peak BBC audience of 17.4 million. Of the women’s Euro viewers, 54% had watched women’s sports earlier in the year.

Based on viewing hours, soccer brought in 72% of women’s sports audiences.

There was more coverage of women’s sports, too. Women’s sports made up 16% of coverage hours BBC One, BBC Two, Channel 4, ITV, and Sky Sports Main Event, compared to 9% in 2021.

U.K. Sports Viewership Comparisons

Despite the significant year-over-year climb, the viewership figures are still smaller than 2019, when the last women’s World Cup took place. 

Between January and July of 2019, 40.4 million people watched at least three minutes of women’s sports, with the average viewing time 525 minutes.