2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup shatters records with 2.2M viewers in New Zealand

Records have been smashed with more than 2.2 million people in Aotearoa tuned in to watch the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup on both Sky Sport and Sky Open (previously Prime) - equating to 46.1% of all New Zealanders aged 5+.

New Zealanders were hooked from the first whistle with the Football Ferns’s opening game against Norway delivering a historic first-ever FIFA World Cup win for us and reaching nearly 900,000 viewers - almost two in every five Kiwis tuning in.

According to Fifa, 39.2 per cent of New Zealanders tuned in across Sky TV and various free-to-air options for the opening 1-0 win over Norway, stating it is the highest TV audience for a football match in this country for more than 20 years.

With a win in the bag, the Football Ferns elimination match against Switzerland drew an even larger audience, reaching over 1 million New Zealanders across Sky and Sky Open, the highest viewership recorded in New Zealand for the tournament.

In what has been a watershed event for women’s sport, the FIFA Women’s World Cup reach of more 2.2 million New Zealanders surpasses television audiences for the popular 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup (1.9 million), the ICC Women’s World Cup (1.1 million) and even last year’s Commonwealth Games (1.9 million).

Well done New Zealand!