The clash between England and the USA at the Women’s Rugby World Cup on August 22nd, which ended in an emphatic 69-7 victory for England, drew a peak audience of 2.4 million on BBC One and 600,000 on iPlayer. The weekend saw 2.1 million streams overall across BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website/app. In total 4.6 million viewers tuned in to live coverage of the Women’s Rugby World Cup over the weekend.

Scotland and Wales began their campaigns with a peak audience of 1.2 million on BBC One on August 23rd, as Scotland earnt a 38-8 win. Ireland’s 42-14 victory over Japan on August 24th drew a peak audience of 534,000 on BBC Two.

During the opening week of the tournament (August 18th to 25th), 3.2 million unique visitors accessed Women’s Rugby Union World Cup content on the BBC Sport website and app, with 1.2 million of those engaging specifically with the live text pages during the matches.

The opening weekend viewing figure surpassed the entire reach of the 2021 World Cup tournament (played in 2022), which attracted 3.7 million viewers overall, including 1.8 million for the final.

The attendance record for the Women’s Rugby World Cup was also broken on the opening night as 42,723 watched England’s victory over USA in Sunderland.

Alex Kay-Jelski, Director of BBC Sport, commented: “It’s been a historical summer for women’s sport, and BBC Sport is proud to have been at the heart of it. These record-breaking figures for the opening weekend of the Women’s Rugby World Cup show the growing passion and interest of fans across the UK. With all four home nations competing on the world stage, we’re bringing audiences every match, every moment, and the stories behind these inspiring female athletes. And with the tournament just getting started, there’s much more to come.”

Ruby Tui, Black Fern and BBC Sport pundit, added: “If you could buy shares in women’s rugby – it would be your number one investment right now. It’s such a buzz to be here in England to witness this phenomenal growth of our game. World records are being broken every weekend and I’m here for it! How good!”

BBC Sport is the exclusive broadcaster of the Women’s Rugby World Cup with every match on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app. All home nations matches and knockout stage fixtures will be shown live on BBC One or BBC Two. The final takes place on September 27th at Twickenham.

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Categories: Articles, Consumer Behaviour, Content, Research

Tags: BBC, iPlayer, rugby, women, World Cup