The recently concluded ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 held in Pakistan & Dubai has set a new benchmark for viewership in India, emerging as the highest-rated multi-nation cricket tournament in the country’s history.
The tournament outperformed the Cricket World Cup 2023 by 23%, reinforcing the ever-growing popularity of the sport in India.
With a total watch time of approximately 250 billion minutes, including 137 billion minutes on Star Sports and 110 billion minutes on JioHotstar, the tournament’s success was driven by several matches to remember, particularly the final between India and New Zealand on 9 March in Dubai, an official release affirms.
Per the release, the final saw peak concurrent viewership reach 122 million on TV and 61 million on JioHotstar, setting a new benchmark for digital viewership in cricket.
The final became the second highest-rated ODI in TV history outside of World Cup matches, drawing 230 million viewers and accumulating 53 billion minutes of watch-time across television and digital platforms.
A key highlight of the tournament was the India-Pakistan league-stage clash in Dubai (India’s “home” venue for the tournament), which became one of the most-watched ODIs in India. The encounter generated over 26 billion minutes of watch-time on TV, surpassing the India-Pakistan match from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, which had recorded 19.5 billion viewing minutes, the release continues.
The Champions Trophy match achieved a 10.8% higher television rating, with 206 million people watching the live action on TV.
The ICC release attributes the record-breaking numbers to JioStar’s extensive coverage, which brought the tournament to audiences across the country in multiple languages.
Matches were broadcast live on Star Sports and Sports 18 in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, while digital streaming on JioHotstar featured a record 16 feeds, including nine language options such as Marathi, Bengali, Bhojpuri and Haryanvi, along with specialised multi-cam and Indian sign language feeds.
