Record women’s sport viewing figures for 2021 have been boosted by the 11 million new viewers that tuned into the Women’s Hundred and Women’s Super League, according to a new report.
The Women’s Sport Trust’s “visibility uncovered” study has found that the audience for domestic women’s sport has bucked the trend of declining TV viewing hours generally and amassed a total audience of almost 32.9 million people last year, with football and cricket the biggest drivers of the newer audience.
Tammy Parlour, chief executive and co-founder of the WST, highlighted the importance of free-to-air broadcast deals alongside those that are subscription-based and said that their impact on women’s sports “should not be underestimated,” with free-to-air bringing in 19 million new viewers.
Of the total number of women’s sport’s viewers, 41% of viewing hours went to cricket, while football contributed 39%, albeit with the new broadcast deal with BBC Sport and Sky Sports beginning with the new season in September.
The report also found that the 5.9 million new viewers for the WSL had not watched any other sport in 2021 before the start of the season.
Of the 4.9 million new viewers of the Hundred, 71% had gone on to watch other women’s sport, with tennis and football the biggest beneficiaries. Meanwhile 25% of those who watched the Women’s Hundred or England women’s cricket did not watch any men’s cricket in 2021. In football 6.2 million people watched live WSL games in 2021 without watching a Premier League game on TV, while 1.5 million people watched live W Series coverage without watching live F1.
“Domestic competitions such as the Hundred and the Women’s Super League are the perfect gateway to viewing more women’s sport and I look forward to seeing the impact other major international events this year will have on future future viewing figures,” said Parlour.
“We know how important these major events are in growing viewership figures but we want this growth to be sustainable, driving greater habits amongst audiences, to ensure women’s sport continues to be visible, viable and unstoppable.”
In addition, the study highlighted the importance of major mixed events in attracting a female audience with Wimbledon and the Tokyo Paralympics both having the highest percentage of female viewers from major events, with 57%.
