World Championship Final Peaks At 4.1 Million

The final of the Betfred World Snooker Championship received a peak audience of 4.1 million in the UK across BBC Two and Eurosport on Monday evening.

Mark Selby beat Shaun Murphy 18-15 in a thrilling finish at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, drawing a vast audience in the UK and across the world. The peak figure of 4.1 million was a significant increase on the 2020 figure of 2.9 million.

On Monday evening, 27% of all television viewers in the UK were watching the match on either BBC or Eurosport.

The tournament was part of the Government’s Events Research Programme and the final was the first sporting event in the UK to welcome a capacity crowd for over a year.

WST Chairman Steve Dawson said: “We are delighted to see such fantastic viewing figures from our main broadcast partners for this event. It was a tremendous final as Shaun Murphy battled to keep it alive in the closing stages before Mark Selby closed out victory and again proved himself one of the all-time greats.

“Snooker’s global audience across over 150 countries continues to grow, particularly as we are one of the few sports which has maintained a full calendar over the past year.

“The atmosphere on the final day was astonishing – those lucky enough to be inside the arena will never forget it. We are extremely proud to be leading the way not just in sport but in the return of all forms of indoor entertainment. The scientific data generated by our event will help get us all further down the roadmap.

“Our thanks go to all of our partners, to the fans for their enthusiasm and to the players for delivering sporting drama of the highest quality.”