Sunday's Carabao Cup final was watched by 4.26m on Sky Sports, breaking last year's record audience for the competition; fan attendance was also up eight per cent; Man Utd beat Newcastle 2-0 at Wembley to lift the trophy for a sixth time
Thursday 2 March 2023 10:54, UK
Manchester United's 2-0 win over Newcastle United in Sunday's Carabao Cup final was watched by a record audience of 4.26m people on Sky Sports.
The peak audience was 60,000 higher than the previous competition record set in the 2022 final between Liverpool and Chelsea, as Erik ten Hag's team claimed the trophy for a sixth time.
The average audience for the match was over half a million viewers higher than in 2022, with 3.79m tuning in across the 90 minutes.
This record audience was driven by the reach of Sky Sports and extensive promotion of the competition across all linear, digital and social platforms by the broadcaster.
Across the whole competition, the cumulative television audience rose to over 18m, an increase of one million on 2021/22, with the average audience up from 1.13m to 1.2m.
"Sky has continued to grow audiences for the Carabao Cup, with its investment and strong partnership with the EFL benefitting all clubs in the EFL," read a statement from the Carabao Cup organisers.
The attendance of 87,306 inside Wembley for Sunday's final was the highest in the tournament since the 2014/15 season. The total numbers of fans attending a Carabao Cup fixture this season topped 1.5m (up eight per cent), with an average fixture attendance of 16,685 - both the highest figures in these categories since 2001/02.
The interest in the competition was also seen by social media content from the EFL's social channels reaching 9.5m accounts, with video views over 4.5m.
"These record-breaking figures demonstrate the continued popularity of the Carabao Cup and the value the competition holds in the football calendar for supporters up and down the country," said Ben Wright, EFL chief commercial officer.
"Over four million people watching at home and 87,000 spectators in the ground represented a fitting finale to a fantastic 2022/23 competition and I would like to thank Sky Sports for making the coverage of this season's Carabao Cup the best yet."
Jonathan Licht, managing director at Sky Sports said: "We are proud to be long term partners of the EFL and Carabao Cup, providing millions of fans access to the competitions across all out platforms. Through our scale, promotion, and innovation in coverage, we have continued to grow audiences for the Carabao Cup, and are pleased to see that reflected in this year's final, in partnership with the EFL."
