2025 Men’s Volleyball World Championship Sets Viewership Records
The 2025 Men’s Volleyball World Championship, held in the Philippines from September 12 to 28, became a true celebration of sport.
The tournament attracted a record audience across television and digital media, demonstrating volleyball’s global appeal, commercial value and rapidly growing popularity.
Record-breaking television broadcasts worldwide
From Europe to Asia, the championship delivered some of the most-watched sports broadcasts of the year. The final between Bulgaria and Italy attracted an average of 2.8 million viewers on RAI 2, placing it among Italy’s five most-watched sporting events of the year outside football.
In Bulgaria, the final made history as the first sporting event to be broadcast simultaneously by all four major national television channels. In Poland, the semifinal between Poland and Italy attracted 1.9 million viewers on free-to-air channel Polsat, accounting for almost a quarter of the country’s television audience that evening. During the final weekend, six of the seven most-watched sports broadcasts in Poland were World Championship matches — further evidence of volleyball’s dominance in the Polish media market.
Interest was equally strong in Asia. The group-stage match between Serbia and China attracted more than 4.7 million viewers, 38% higher than the previous record set in 2022.
In addition to television, online streams generated more than 147 million views, 31 million unique users and nearly 9 million interactions.
Remarkably, 94% of the audience came through partnerships with local streaming platforms, allowing Volleyball World to expand its reach far beyond its traditional fan base. Even when China’s national team was not playing, matches consistently attracted millions of views — a clear sign of the country’s enormous interest in international volleyball.
Digital and social media growth
The Volleyball World platform also delivered record results, generating more than 5 million views and 180 million minutes watched throughout the tournament. The Italy–Bulgaria final was the platform’s most-watched match, with 220,000 views, while the USA–Bulgaria quarterfinal attracted 207,000 views.
On social media, the championship became one of the most engaging events in volleyball history. From the start of the group stage through to the quarterfinals, Volleyball World’s global channels gained more than 129,500 new followers.
In China, localised content generated 22.1 million interactions and nearly 30,000 new followers, confirming volleyball’s status as one of the fastest-growing sports in the digital space.
The Philippines proved to be an impressive host of the championship, combining record-breaking audience engagement with unforgettable moments on the court.
FIVB President Fabio Azevedo said: “This World Championship once again demonstrated volleyball’s incredible power to unite and inspire people. It was wonderful to stage the men’s championship in a new region for the first time, and we are already looking forward to returning to the Philippines in 2029 for the women’s tournament. The country’s passion for our sport is clear to see, and the record-breaking digital results confirm that we are moving in the right direction. Thank you to our partners and fans for making this tournament truly unforgettable!”
Volleyball World CEO Hugo Valensi added: “These record figures demonstrate not only volleyball’s global popularity, but also the value our sport brings to broadcasters and partners. We raised the quality of our broadcasts, introduced new forms of digital storytelling and engaged audiences around the world, building deeper connections with fans. Our experience in China showed how innovative approaches can attract millions of new fans and create tangible commercial value for partners. The 2025 World Championship set a new benchmark for what volleyball can achieve — and this is only the beginning of our growth journey.”
The 2025 Men’s Volleyball World Championship confirmed that volleyball is one of the most exciting, popular and valuable sports in the world.
