Top 10 Most-Watched Sporting Games/Events in 2025
Summary
The 2025 UEFA Champions League Final was the year’s most-watched event globally, drawing 430 million viewers as Paris Saint-Germain secured a decisive 5-0 victory. Cricket also saw massive audiences, with the ICC Champions Trophy final attracting 230 million viewers and the Women’s Cricket World Cup Final achieving a digital reach of 446 million in India alone.
In the United States, Super Bowl LIX set a record with 127.7 million viewers, while Thanksgiving Day NFL games dominated regular-season ratings. Other notable events included a historic World Series Game 7, major boxing matches on Netflix, and a highly-watched NBA Finals Game 7, all demonstrating the year’s extraordinary global sports viewership.
As the year comes to a close, it’s time to look back at some of the world’s most-watched games this past year. While everyone knows the Super Bowl always sets new records every year, you’d be surprised what other games made the top 10 list.
UEFA Champions League Final (2025)
While the championship game was a complete blowout as Paris Saint-Germain won its first UEFA Champions League title, destroying Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich, the ratings were off the charts. An estimated 430 million global viewers watched the largest-ever margin of victory in the European final.
ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Final (Cricket)
The thrilling cricket final between New Zealand and India drew a massive 230 million global viewers. With 65.3 billion live viewing minutes globally, it became the most-watched Champions Trophy match, overtaking the 2017 final record by an eye-popping 52.1%. India’s victory
The final saw concurrent viewership reach 122 million on TV and 61 million on JioHotstar, setting a new record for digital viewership in cricket as India won the title.
2025 Women’s Cricket World Cup Final
The ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 Final saw a new mark not only in the women’s game but in cricket as well. JioHotstar, an Indian streaming platform, saw a staggering 185 million users on the app, with an additional 92 million tuned in to watch the historic clash on Connected TV. The overall reach was 446 million on digital in India.
Super Bowl LIX (NFL)
The Super Bowl always seems to set new records every year, and 2025 was no exception.
An estimated 127.7 million viewers tuned in to watch the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs – making it the largest audience for a Super Bowl and for a single-network telecast in TV history. Viewership rose by 3.2% from Super Bowl LVIII in 2024.
2025 Thanksgiving Day NFL Games
The Thanksgiving Day games are generally highly rated, but in 2025, the numbers soared. CBS’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys averaged 57.2 million viewers — ranking as the most-watched NFL regular-season game ever. Earlier on FOX, the Packers and Lions averaged 47.7 million viewers while the primetime game between the Bengals vs Ravens set another mark, averaging 28.4 million on NBC.
World Series Game 7 (MLB)
Game 7 of the World Series became the most-watched MLB worldwide in 34 years as more than 51 million people in the United States, Canada, and Japan watched the L.A. Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays in one of the most thrilling games in history. It was the most-watched World Series game since 1992 and had the largest viewership outside the U.S. in MLB history.
Canelo Álvarez vs Terence Crawford Boxing
One of the biggest title fights in history saw record numbers as Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford drew an estimated 41.1 million viewers on Netflix – making it the most-viewed men’s championship boxing match of the century. Netflix claims the bout drew 36.6 million on fight night, while the rest watched it within a day after the fight.
Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua Boxing Match
Netflix says the boxing match between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua drew 33 million concurrent viewers, making it the No. 1 program in 45 countries while it was happening. It also became the highest-grossing boxing gate in the Kaseya Center’s (Miami, FL) history.
2025 Kentucky Derby
The fastest ‘two minutes in sports’ is the most prestigious horse race in the world, and in 2025 saw some big numbers. Sovereignty’s win was seen by 17.7 million viewers, giving NBC its most-watched Run for the Roses since taking over the rights in 2001. It was the largest TV audience for the race since Sunday Silence, who in 1989, a race broadcast on ABC.
NBA Finals Game 7 – Pacers vs. Thunder
Game 7 of the NBA Finals averaged 16.6 million viewers and saw a peak of 19.5 million. The Thunder’s victory in the deciding game was the most-watched NBA Finals game since 2019. The Finals themselves averaged just over 10 million viewers as Oklahoma City saw the team earn its first championship.
Honorable Mentions
FIFA Club World Cup 2025
The Club World Cup, which lasted 63 games in the United States, drew a global audience of 2.7 billion over the course of the entire month. Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the championship game averaged 1.3 million viewers on TBS, and TNT Sports averaged 458,000 a game.
2025 Tour De France
Another event that takes a month is the Tour De France. In 2025, the cycling race saw massive viewership, with some sources estimating 3.5 billion viewers worldwide over the event.
The race is broadcast to 190+ countries, with France’s audience reaching 45 million for the Paris final stage.
