ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 Opens with Record Crowds, 215M Digital Reach and Historic India-Pakistan Viewership Surge

The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 opened with record attendance, viewing and engagement across the UK, India and other markets. In the first three days, 44,844 fans attended matches, the highest weekend total for an ICC Women’s event, while digital and broadcast figures also rose sharply.

The opening weekend beat the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup’s first three-day attendance of 34,680 last year. The biggest crowd came at Edgbaston, where 18,814 watched India vs. Pakistan, the highest-attended group-stage fixture in ICC Women’s World Cup history and above the 15,935 at Dubai International Stadium in 2024.

In India, JioStar’s coverage on JioHotstar has reached 215 million people and recorded 1.3 billion minutes of live watch time so far. India’s win over Pakistan drew 134 million viewers and 1.1 billion minutes of watch time, which is now the highest digital reach for any league-stage match across all formats in women’s cricket.

Broadcasters and digital platforms post strong figures

The India vs. Pakistan match followed an opening night in Birmingham, where 14,865 supporters watched the West End production of Wicked before Danni Wyatt-Hodge helped England beat Sri Lanka. Sky Sports recorded a peak audience of 510,000 and an average of 393,000, its highest average for a single game at an ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

• Opening three-day attendance: 44,844
• India vs. Pakistan crowd at Edgbaston: 18,814
• JioHotstar live reach: 215 million
• JioHotstar watch time: 1.3 billion minutes
• ICC social video views: 753 million+

Across ICC digital platforms, video views on social media passed 753 million, up by nearly 150 percent on the same period of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. The ICC’s Content Creator Programme added 617 million-plus video views and more than 30 million engagements, while ICC.tv saw a 75 percent rise in unique users and watch time.

ICC Chief Executive Sanjog Gupta said the start reflected months of planning, work and collaboration with the ICC, the ECB, broadcast partners and other stakeholders. He said the aim is to raise the level of the women’s game, give the world’s best players a bigger stage and reach new fans in England, Wales and beyond.