A record 1.25 million fans attended matches during the 13th edition of the World Cup, which concluded on Sunday with Australia beating hosts India for their sixth title, global body the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Tuesday. The ICC said the tournament, which ran from October 5 to November 19, also set attendance records for all matches at venues across the ten host cities in India. The figure eclipses the previous mark of 1.016 million, set at the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, while figures for games involving teams from other countries also exceeded one million.
The crowds for India’s matches were packed at all venues, putting concerns about poor turnouts to rest, especially in the early stages of the competition when the stadiums for matches not featuring defending champions India were largely empty. The India-Pakistan match at the Narendra Modi Stadium on October 14 was an exception, with a record number of people flooding into the ground to witness the clash between two arch-rivals.
But the ODI World Cup also broke multiple broadcast and digital viewership records, proving its enduring appeal among cricket fans worldwide. The event was televised in more than 100 countries, and ESPNcricinfo saw its highest-ever daily traffic for the event.
The World Cup also attracted a vast audience online, with the ICC’s official website logging 1.4 billion minutes and 75 million visits. The website’s ten-day unique visitors count increased by more than 10 percent, with most coming from outside India.
Despite a poor start to the tournament’s final phase, a meticulous and disciplined bowling effort by Australia brought India’s sensational run to an end. A superb Travis Head hundred helped Australia reach 241 for four in the innings, and they never looked back from there as they won the final by six wickets in Ahmedabad.
As a result of the success of the World Cup, a record number of tickets have been sold this year. The ICC expects to exceed the totals of the last four years, which have seen an average of around 925,000 people per game.
The ICC hopes the new record will encourage more cricket fans to attend live events and invest in the game’s future, particularly the men’s 50-over format, which has struggled to maintain popularity over the past few years.
The success of the World Cup will also boost the ICC’s efforts to promote cricket as a family sport and appeal to younger audiences, particularly in India. The ICC’s Future of Cricket report published earlier this month found that children who watched a game with their parents or siblings were likelier to follow the sport as adults.
The ICC also hopes to expand its presence in emerging markets, where it plans to build more youth centers. These facilities will offer cricket training, coaching, and other sports activities to underprivileged youngsters and provide space for local clubs to play their home matches.
