Women’s sport attracts 15.1 million viewers in the UK in the first three months of 2022

• Data shows fans are following women’s sports more often and longer
• 58% of all women’s sports viewers watch WSL games

More fans watched women’s sport in the UK in the first three months of 2022 than in any other first quarter on record, according to new data from the Women’ Sport Trust (WST), with 15.1 million people watching at least one event.

The number is a significant increase from the previous milestone of 10.2 million in 2019 and triples the 5.06 million who watched this time last year, at a time when the effects of Covid-19 were still being felt was.

The women’s sports charity says its numbers show increased visibility of female characteristics helps attract more viewers. English top flight Women’s Super League (WSL) is in the first season of a major new television deal with pay-TV broadcaster Sky Sports and the `, while all matches in the women’s Six Nations rugby union championship are available for the first time are .

Both competitions benefited from favorable planning that allowed them to attract audiences that would otherwise watch other events. WSL was the most watched event with 58 percent of women’s sports viewership, ahead of the women’s Six Nations (25 percent), the Arnold Clark Cup international soccer tournament (24 percent) and the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup (13 percent).

According to WST, viewers watch longer and are more likely to stay. The average person watched 122 minutes of women’s sport in the first quarter of 2022, compared with 68 minutes in 2021, while 33 percent watched at least three times, up from 17 percent a year earlier.

“These encouraging numbers reinforce our long-standing belief that when women’s sport is given visibility, audiences will watch and confirm UK broadcasters’ commitment to providing unprecedented visibility for women’s sport,” said Tammy Parlous, Managing Director of WST.

“The rising overall numbers for women’s sport, in line with increasing habit, is particularly exciting for the creation of a commercially sustainable offering, especially ahead of a big year for women’s sport with the likes of [Uefa European Women’s Championship in soccer], a women’s Rugby World Cup, and the Women’s Rugby League World Cup is yet to come. There has never been a better time for brands to invest in women’s sport for the first time.”