BeIN Sports declares FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ record-breaking cumulative viewership of 5.4 billion

beIN MEDIA GROUP (“beIN”) has announced record viewership figures for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, marking its own World CupTM victory. During the tournament’s month-long run, beIN’s flagship channel, beIN SPORTS, saw more than 5.4 billion total views across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and its official social media channels saw 1.1 billion total views.

Over the course of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, BeIN Media Group has received more than 1.1 billion views on its official social media channels and 5.4 billion views on its flagship channel, BeIN Sports, across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

On the free-to-air channel of beIN Sports, 242.8 million people watched the final match, which ended with Argentina winning the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 with a 4-2 penalty victory over France. This number represents more than two-thirds of the adult population in the MENA region or 68%. When data were analyzed country by country, it was found that viewership was particularly high in Qatar, where 93% of adults tuned in. Adults watched 91% in Morocco, followed by 89% in Lebanon, 79% in Algeria, and 72% in Egypt. In the meantime, the final match attracted a total of 25 million viewers on its official YouTube channel, with a peak of 4.44 million during the penalty shootouts.

When compared to the Qatar-based network’s broadcast of the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018, the total number of viewers in beIN’s 24-country MENA coverage area for all matches increased by 135%. On beIN Sports, the final of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022 drew 88 million more viewers than the final of the FIFA World Cup in Russia in 2018. In 2022, the average number of people watching a match on television increased significantly, reaching 80.6 million, up from 36.2 million for the coverage in 2018.

Mohammad Al-Subaie, the CEO of beIN – MENA, made the following remarks regarding the achievement: “It’s incredibly special for us that the first World Cup in the Middle East has broken regional viewership records with more than 5.4bn cumulative views across the month-long tournament. This is evidence of the appetite for football and similar tournaments across the Arab World and we are honoured to have been the exclusive rights holder. We are excited to be preparing for many more extensive broadcasts as we continue to inspire, educate, and entertain viewers across MENA.”

Four teams from the Arab world participated in this year’s tournament, which was the first to be held in the Middle East: hosts Qatar, neighbouring Saudi Arabia, and North African duo Tunisia and Morocco. The Atlas Lions of Morocco went the deepest, defeating Spain and Portugal in the World Cup quarterfinals to become the first Arab and first African nation to do so.

The figures from beIN, the exclusive broadcast rights holder for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in 24 MENA countries, show that in addition to the final, a record 186.1 million people watched the Morocco-France semi-final match on beIN Sports. That likens to 52% of the adult population in MENA and Iran tuning in for the match. Additionally, these figures indicate that 99% of Moroccan adults watched the historic match live on beIN Sports; The match was watched by 82% of adults in Qatar, 78% in Algeria, 75% in Tunisia, 67% in Lebanon, and 63% in KSA via beIN Sports.

166.3 million people watched the regional final between Argentina and Croatia. The numbers for the semi-finals are up from the quarter-finals when 151.8 million people watched Morocco’s Youssef En-Nesyri score a towering header to beat a Portuguese team that included Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, and Ruben Dias.

BeIN’s social media also saw record numbers: online video views reached 1.1 billion, up from 121 million in 2018, and 5.5 billion impressions resulted in 400 million interactions (excluding SnapChat), up from 235 million impressions in 2018 which resulted in 40 million interactions.

beIN Sports, the Official Broadcast Partner, was a central role in showcasing the historic tournament. BeIN Sports’ viewing figures for the month-long tournament demonstrate the region’s enthusiasm for this historic first staging in the Arab World by providing premium broadcast, analysis, and commentary of each game across its seven channels in four languages.