The sports communities around the world are currently racing to fill the headlines with newer revelations and events. As the dates for Paris 2024 are nearing with each passing day, the qualification processes get equally realistic and competitive. While each field races toward its predominant stops, two of the other presiding ones make their way up the ladder in popularity; the World Athletics Championships and the Swimming World Cup.

The World Athletics Championship was held in August this year, inviting athletes from around the world. The Swimming World Cup 2023 recently announced its schedule for the field’s biggest event of the year. While the two vary in skills and preparation, they both stand to provide athletes with a chance to meet their ultimate goal; the Olympics. However, when they each hold equal importance for the athletes contending, it might not be said the same for the viewers. Consequently, other than the faceoff among the athletes on the ground, there is another battle beyond that. The battle of viewership.

The popularity of the 2023 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup

The 2023 swimming World Cup will be making a comeback in the early part of October this year. Starting from October, the event will last through the 22nd, covering 3 prominent cities in Europe. Dividing the dates by 3, Berlin, Athens, and Budapest will each be hosting the event over the weekend of the 3 weeks. From the 6th Oct to the 8th, Berlin will take charge of the competition, the 22nd since the event marked its beginning, and the most among the three.

For its second stop, the World Cup will head to Athens from the 13th to the 15th; with a seating capacity of 4000. And the final stop will be taking place in Budapest, a fourth for the city. The last leg here will go on from the 20th to the 22nd. By the end of the series, the competition will reveal the contenders qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar according to Swim Swam.

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The 2023 Swimming World Cup is expecting popularity with its decreased spots and the popular figures contending. While the prize money for the series remains unknown, a bigger sum is speculated considering last year’s prize of $1.1 million. Taking it up a notch, the series will also be streamed live and free on YouTube, as told by World Aquatics to Swimwam. This seems to be a strategic move considering the fluctuating statistics in its audience and viewership.

Past viewership data of previous swimming world cups

The 2022 World Cup Series was speculated to have performed better around the world in comparison to its previous statistics. However, taking the United States data for the last year where the competition was held, the event saw a noticeable drop. In 2022, according to reports, fewer than 200,000 people tuned in for the competition. While the numbers report a downturn, a look further back shows a different picture.

In 2013, the Swimming World Cup saw a blooming popularity. On November 8, 2013, the governing body announced that 4.5 Billion people eagerly watched the television coverage of the event in Europe held over 2 weeks. The data also involved other forms of news consumption that included tape-delayed broadcasts, replays, and repeated airings. The massive numbers were also accompanied by round-the-clock reporting by some European countries.

The 2013 data saw a massively increased viewership compared to the year of 2011. In the mentioned year, the number was recorded at 3.7 Billion even when the series was hosted in the most populous country. The competition has witnessed a constant up and down in the viewership numbers. Tackling the issue, the governing body has considered possible factors. The length of the series and the presence of popular figures directly proportionate to the city hosting. Considering the two, the reduced number of shows to 3, and the selected cities, the governing body hopes for an impact this year.

While the swimming community is in the works to build a stronger base of viewership and consistency in the numbers, the World Athletics Championship is looking at a different scenario.

The recent World Athletics Championships’ event data

The World Athletics Championships 2023 was held from the 19th to the 22nd of August this year. The event held in Budapest, was a beneficiary coverage for the athletes participating; not just in terms of exposure but also in terms of the coverage fee. The event was broadcast much through Europe and received a positive view in the numbers; much so in key countries of Germany, the UK, Finland, and France.

The event received a response not only from the 40,000 attending audience but a billion viewers online. According to the organizers, the event surpassed all viewership records counting in 1 Billion viewers from across the world. The event was set to beat the London viewership record from 2017, and it most certainly did. The data reported that more people in London watched the event this year than they did 6 years ago, according to a report by Hungarian Conservative.

Following along, the offline viewership was no less crazy. The tickets were all sold out till the 23rd evening. The organizers had to request the officials to open up some of the reserved seats for the general public. While this year saw a record-breaking number of audience, the data was no less for its time in the previous years.

Past event data of the World Athletics Championships

The Track and Field fans in the USA are a major force in the audience for the World Athletics Championship. Team USA holding its position year after year pulls in a huge crowd. And when the event was in the United States last year, it drew a massive crowd in the States. According to the Oregonlive data, 146,033 people were present in attendance at the events. While the broadcaster giant, NBC reported 18.4 Million in viewership in the country alone. It was further reported that the showcase became the most-watched world track and field championships on record.

The viewership saw a 65% increase for the broadcaster since 2017 hosted in London. The year recorded the viewership at 11.3 Million. In 2022, the viewership peaked at 3.2 million as the event neared its end. And since 2015, the coverage recorded an average high of 834,000 viewers across 43 hours.

Though the event has reached its end, it has exited as one of the most prestigious events in the sporting world. World Athletics Championship saw news coverage articles extending to 14,000 over 9 nine days. The U.S. Track & Field Championships also surpassed the Swimming World Cup in 2022 recording a million viewership count as the former failed to meet 200k. As the Swimming World Cup raises its curtains a week from now, the battle of viewership is something that will be really worth watching.

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