The 2025 Women’s Volleyball World Championship, organized by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball -FIVB-, inaugurated its new biennial cycle with an expanded format of 32 national teams. The edition marked a turning point for volleyball, achieving unprecedented audience levels and strengthening its position within the international sports ecosystem.

In China, the tournament reached more than 1.1 billion views across television and digital platforms. Prime-time coverage on CCTV5 drew over 500 million viewers, outperforming other benchmark events in the country’s sporting calendar.

The FIVB and ‘Volleyball World’ introduced for the first time a collaborative strategy with 20 content creators on Douyin, including former international players. This initiative generated an additional 638 million views, reached 140 million unique users and sparked nearly 31 million interactions, setting a new standard for digital engagement across sports federations.

Italy strengthens its role as a strategic market in Europe

The gold medal clash between Italy and Türkiye was followed by nearly 4 million viewers on RAI 1, representing a 33% share of the audience. These figures confirmed volleyball as one of the fastest-growing sports in the country, reinforcing its presence within the Olympic and federative competition calendar.

Throughout August, volleyball topped the national sports broadcast rankings in Italy, occupying the three leading positions ahead of other disciplines with strong Olympic traditions.

Türkiye reaches record-breaking national audiences

In Türkiye, more than 4.5 million fans watched the final live on TRT 1. This number surpassed other leading international competitions, consolidating volleyball’s position as one of the most prominent sports in the country in terms of audience and federative relevance.

On the digital side, the VBTV platform, powered by ‘Volleyball World’, recorded over 7 million views across the tournament. The semifinal between Italy and Brazil attracted 350,000 viewers, while the final reached more than 250,000, highlighting the growing demand for streaming services developed by international sports federations.

FIVB highlights volleyball’s growth and global connection

FIVB President Fabio Azevedo stated: “The 2025 Women’s World Championship has truly demonstrated the universal appeal of volleyball. Across multiple continents fans have embraced the excitement and drama of the tournament. These numbers reflect the deepening connection between our sport and its global audience and with the work that we are doing to develop the game even more, mainly via Volleyball Empowerment, we are sure that these numbers will only continue to grow.”

‘Volleyball World’ CEO Ugo Valensi added: “With this World Championship we’ve shown that volleyball can lead the way in how sport is delivered. By combining world-class broadcast production with fresh storytelling through streamers and digital platforms, we are setting a new standard for fan engagement. It’s about creating not just audiences, but communities that live and breathe the sport.”