Fans flock to AIG Women's Open

The AIG Women’s Open enjoyed a bumper attendance this week and hit some new peaks in terms of broadcast audience share and digital reach and engagement.

More than 47,000 fans attended the five days of the Championship at Royal Porthcawl, making it the largest women’s sporting event ever in Wales.

Families and children attended in large numbers with almost 2,500 children (around 5% of the total attendance) coming along through The R&A’s longstanding ‘Kids go Free’ initiative.

The AIG Women’s Open made significant progress in capturing greater TV audience share in the UK with the first two rounds attracting the Championship’s highest-ever average audience for the first and second days on Sky Sports.

Digital fan engagement was also strong with a 144% year-on-year increase in YouTube views, a 93% increase in the number of hours watched and a 133% increase in engagements.

On social media, the AIG Women’s Open Instagram account achieved its highest-ever day of engagement on Saturday. To date, there has been a 221% year-on-year increase in social media impressions/views across the week compared to 2024 and the growth in social followers was up by 316% compared to last year.

Mark Darbon, Chief Executive of The R&A, said: “The AIG Women’s Open is making significant strides across the board.

“We are delighted with how many fans have attended this week and the numbers of fans who have tuned in on television and engaged with our digital platforms.

“This Championship is a globally significant event and is hugely important to women’s sport and golf in particular.

“We are grateful to AIG and all our partners for their incredible support in continuing to elevate the Championship and it is pleasing to see how this is resonating with fans.

“We have provided creative and innovative ways for the fans to engage with the Championship and the players and you can see how much they have relished that opportunity.”