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The ICC Men's T20 World Cup is on track to become the most digitally engaged and globally accessible tournament in the event’s history, with ICC.tv and the International Cricket Council (ICC) social media platforms setting new benchmarks across the digital landscape.
The ICC’s streaming platform, ICC.tv, which caters primarily to fans in emerging cricket markets, registered a new concurrent streaming record during the Super Eight clash between India and the West Indies. The figure surpassed the previous high set during the 2024 T20 World Cup final.
In addition, ICC.tv has already exceeded the total number of users and overall minutes watched during the entire 2024 tournament. Compared to the same stage in the previous edition, unique users have risen by 28 per cent, while total playtime has surged by 56 per cent.
Across social media platforms, the ICC has crossed 10 billion video views and remains on course to surpass the 16 billion views achieved during the 2024 edition.
Deeper fan engagement
The growth has not been limited to sheer scale. Engagement metrics reveal that fans are spending significantly more time watching matches.
Average watch time per unique user has climbed to 58 minutes, compared to 47 minutes at the end of the Super Eight stage in 2024.
Multi-language streaming has played a crucial role in enhancing the fan experience worldwide. Nearly half of the total playtime has come from non-English feeds, with ICC.tv offering coverage in Hindi, Urdu, Nepali, Japanese and Bahasa Indonesia. Three of the top five most-watched streams during the tournament have been in languages other than English, underlining the importance of regional accessibility.
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Emerging markets drive growth
The strongest percentage growth has come from non-traditional cricket markets, where user numbers have jumped by 69 per cent.
Germany has recorded a 150 per cent increase in unique users compared to 2024, while Italy has seen a growth of 136 per cent. Japan and South Korea have each delivered more than 100 per cent growth in both views and unique users.
Most global ICC event yet
These trends reflect significant progress toward the ICC’s ambition of delivering its most globally accessible event to date.
The sustained rise in viewership, engagement and geographic spread, supported by expanded language options and increased adoption in emerging European and Asian markets, signals a new era of global reach for the tournament.
With record concurrent audiences, higher average watch times and a substantial increase in participation from non-traditional territories, the 2026 edition is shaping up as the most widely available and digitally consumed ICC event in history.
