Coverage of the 2016 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy reached an audited audience of almost 30 million people worldwide, according to the latest independent research and analysis from Kantar Media, an industry leader in broadcast viewer measurement.

The worldwide television audience grew by 2.4%, which represents an increase of over 700,000 people compared with the 2015 viewing figures.

The TT was also featured or referenced in over 15,000 online articles published in 2016, a year-on-year increase of 28%.

Laurence Skelly MHK, Minister for the Department of Economic Development commented:

‘It is reassuring to see continued growth in the worldwide media audience for the TT Races as it underpins both our visitor strategy and the event’s commercial programme.  We need to ensure that we continue to grow the interest in the TT, not only in terms of the visitor economy, but also by increasing the number of fans who follow the event from their own homes as they also make an economic contribution to its long term viability.’

Rob Callister MHK, Political Member at the Department with responsibility for Tourism and Motorsport added:

‘It is important that we look to capitalise on the continued growth and rising interest in the TT by ensuring that we can support visitor travel and accommodation. A key part of the long term development of the TT Races, and Festival of Motorcycling, will be to develop the Island’s infrastructure to ensure that we can capitalise on the potential increase in visitors.’