The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush set a new benchmark for attendance, broadcast viewership and digital engagement.
A record 278,000 fans marked the highest ever attendance for The Open held outside of St Andrews. For the first time, all practice days were sold out with a record 90,000 fans attending – while 19,000 children were able to enjoy The Open as part of the long-running Kids go Free initiative. More than 1.2million applications were received for tickets in the ticket ballot.
The Open’s reach extended far beyond Royal Portrush to millions of TV viewers worldwide. In the UK, Sky Sports recorded its most-watched Open ever with 21.2million viewer hours – a 36% year-on-year increase. The final round marked Sky’s second-largest Sunday audience since 2021. In the USA, NBC/Peacock final round coverage averaged 4.1million viewers, a 21% increase from 2024, and the Sunday audience peaked at more than 6.1million viewers. Overall, NBC Sports’ coverage was the most-watched since 2022.
“The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush has truly set a new standard in attendance, TV viewership and digital engagement,” said Neil Armit, chief commercial officer at The R&A. “The incredible support from the fans at The Open and those watching around the world combined with the outstanding performances on the course to create an atmosphere that will be remembered for years to come. These record-breaking figures are a testament to the enduring appeal of The Open and the passion of the fans for links golf at its finest. We are immensely proud of what we have achieved together with our partners.”
Digital platforms played an equally crucial role in the championship’s success. TheOpen.com experienced record-breaking traffic – achieving the most daily users and pageviews ever recorded with pageviews up 60% compared to 2024. The featured groups stream also hit all-time highs in watch time and weekend performance, contributing to the second-highest ever livestream views, up 15% from 2024.
The official Open app also saw its highest daily users ever, up 21%, with four days recording more than 400,000 users. New features such as the lockscreen leaderboard and improved livestream access contributed to a 96% increase in average session duration.
Social media engagement soared too – gaining nearly 400,000 new followers, a 178% increase from 2024, and generating over 436million views across all platforms.
One Club presented by Mastercard, The R&A’s fan membership programme, now boasts just over two million members across 184 different countries with over 155,000 new members joining during the week – the best growth since 2022.
The ticket ballot ahead of the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale has also seen the highest number of applications since 2022 for The Open held at St Andrews.
