Champions Trophy 2025 sets new broadcast records

The 2025 edition, played in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, saw 368 billion global viewing minutes, a remarkable 19 percent increase from the previous tournament held in England and Wales in 2017.

The premium event that featured eight international teams drew 308 million global viewing minutes per over, the most ever for an ICC event.

Under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma, India won the trophy on the back of an unbeaten run throughout the tournament.

They beat the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup champions Australia in the semi-final before defeating New Zealand in the grand finale.

The final against the Black Caps on 9 March was the most-watched Champions Trophy fixture ever, with 65.3 billion live viewing minutes globally, overtaking the record set during the 2017 final by a whopping 52.1 percent.

It was also the third-most watched game in any ICC event globally by live watch time. In India too, it was the third-most watched ICC game ever, sitting behind the 2023 Cricket World Cup semi-final and final, both of which featured India.

ICC Chair Jay Shah regarded the Champions Trophy’s success as a marker of the game’s global growth.

“We are delighted to share that the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 has achieved record-breaking global viewership,” Shah said.

“Making it the most-watched edition of the tournament to date.

“These remarkable numbers reflect the growing global appeal of the game and the strength of our partnerships.”

The tournament also broke broadcast records in prominent cricketing territories, including Australia, India and Pakistan, and also made waves in up-and-coming markets.

“We are especially grateful for the continued innovation and investment by the JioStar network in India which delivered live coverage across 29 unique broadcast feeds in nine languages, an effort that played a significant role in reaching new audiences and deepening fan engagement,” Shah said regarding the coverage in India.

With the return of the award-winning Indian Sign Language feed and Audio Descriptive Commentary, coverage in India across the JioStar network featured a range of inclusive innovations designed to ensure all fans could enjoy the unrivalled drama of the Champions Trophy, culminating in it becoming the most watched Champions Trophy ever in the country.

The tournament became the most watched Champions Trophy in Australia too, with the overall viewing hours going up by 65 percent compared to the previous edition.

With enhanced coverage featuring the introduction of a Hindi language feed, Amazon Prime Video witnessed the highest viewership of any ICC event shown exclusively on the platform.

Despite the fact that tournament co-hosts, Pakistan, fell short of repeating their 2017 heroics, viewing hours for the 2025 event in the nation rose by 24 percent.

And in the USA, fans defied less favourable match timings to record a notable growth in live viewership as compared with the 2017 event.