The 2023 Rugby World Cup in France set a record as the most watched rugby event ever, with the Springboks playing in the tournament’s two most-viewed matches.
This event, hosted in France, became the most viewed in the history of rugby.
The Springboks, ultimately crowned champions in Paris, were featured in the two most-watched matches of the tournament.
World Rugby announced on Tuesday that the France 2023 event amassed 1.33 billion viewing hours (VH) across all linear and non-linear broadcasting platforms. This viewership was 30% higher than the England 2015 World Cup (1.01 billion VH) and 19% more than the Japan 2019 World Cup (1.11 billion VH).
France, the host nation, recorded the highest viewership worldwide with 481 million VH, despite their national team’s early exit in the quarter-finals at the hands of the Springboks.
The final match between the Springboks and New Zealand garnered the highest global viewing hours of any match, reaching 94 million VH. This was followed by the fourth quarter-final match between France and South Africa, which attracted 69 million VH.
