Ireland-Canada World Cup match breaks TV records

THE Republic of Ireland’s group game against Canada in the Fifa Women’s World Cup 2023 was the most-watched women’s team sport event in Irish TV history, according to RTÉ statistics.

RTÉ’s coverage of the Fifa Women’s World Cup 2023 broke audience records as television live match broadcasts plus highlights reached over half of the TV-owning population, with the Republic of Ireland v Canada group game the highest rating game on RTÉ2 and the most watched women’s team sport event in Irish TV history with an average of 551,000 viewers.

The average share of viewing on RTÉ2, excluding Ireland games, was more than double (20.7%) the average share for the 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup (8.9%), while average streams per match on RTÉ Player were more than double those in 2019.

Ireland’s opening match against Australia was the biggest live event of the year on RTÉ Player with 368,000 live streams, and the second-highest live-streamed event ever on the platform.

Sunday’s final, which saw Spain defeat England, was watched by an average of 333,000 people on RTÉ2, with a 48.3% share of viewing. It registered 69,400 live streams on RTÉ Player.

RTÉ Group head of sport Declan McBennett said: “The audience engagement figures across all platforms on RTÉ Sport show that women’s sport at international level continues to grow, excel and inspire. This growth must be matched now at national level to provide the legacy the tournament deserves and the platform for further growth.”

Meanwhile, there were 10 million page views of Fifa Women’s World Cup content on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app, with the first two Ireland live blogs reaching 500,000 for the opener against Australia and 439,000 for the second group game v Canada.

Both live blogs currently rank among the top 20 sport articles of the year.