TV viewership for women's sport still far behind men's despite surge in popularity, CSO finds

More than half a million people tuned in for Ireland Women’s World Cup opener against Australia, which is higher than the CSO’s data for average viewership on a Six Nations men’s game of 434,000. File picture: Damien Eagers/PA

The number of television viewers for men’s sports is “far greater” than for viewers of women’s sports, the Central Statistics Office has said, despite a surge in popularity in women’s sports in recent years.

Data suggests that the average men’s Six Nations game pulls eight times the viewers of the women’s Six Nations.