The Fifa Women's World Cup match between Ireland and Canada drew an impressive audience of over half a million television viewers, marking a historic moment as the highest-watched women's team sporting event in the history of Irish television.
According to figures released by RTÉ, the live coverage of Ireland's second group match had an average of 550,600 people tuning in on RTÉ2, constituting a remarkable 68.9% share of television viewers. Additionally, 234,883 viewers opted for the live stream on the RTÉ Player platform.
In their maiden appearance at the FIFA Women's World Cup, the Republic of Ireland team faced Canada in Perthand lost 2-1, which ended their tournament.
RTÉ highlighted that Ireland's matches at the Women's World Cup, particularly against Australia and Canada, emerged as the top two live events of the year-to-date on RTÉ Player. The broadcaster acknowledged some technical issues during the live broadcast of the team's first game and issued an apology for any inconvenience caused.
Ireland's Katie McCabe says 'she is proud of Ireland despite the 2-1 loss to Canada. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)The streaming numbers and TV ratings from the recent match further demonstrated the ongoing support for the women's national team, leading to an all-time high in live audiences for women's sports.
Throughout the first seven days of the Women's World Cup, RTÉ Player reported over 750,000 streams of all games, with the numbers continuing to grow. Additionally, the live blog on RTÉ.ie, providing minute-by-minute updates from the match, received over 430,000 views.
“The streaming numbers and TV ratings from Wednesday's game demonstrate the continuing support for the women’s national team as live audiences for women’s sport hit an all-time high," said the RTE report.
“On RTÉ Player there has been over 750,000 streams of all Fifa Women's World Cup games in the first seven days, with the numbers continuing to grow. On RTÉ.ie, the live blog with minute-by-minute updates from the match received over 430,000 views,” the report said.
Ireland's final group match against Nigeria is scheduled to be covered on various RTÉ platforms, including RTÉ2. That games kicks-off at 11pm
