The Boat Races 2017 television viewers, and were broadcast around the world by a variety of broadcasters. The two main races were also available for the first time as a live stream using YouTube. The Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing competition between the University of Oxford (sometimes referred to as the "Dark Blues") and the University of Cambridge (sometimes referred to as the "Light Blues"). First held in 1829, the race takes place on the Championship Course, between Putney and Mortlake on the River Thames in south-west London. The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities; it is followed
Women's Boat Race 70th women's race was held on The Championship Course on the same day as the traditional male event for the first time. The course covers a stretch of the Thames in West London, from Putney to Mortlake. Rebranded as "The Boat Races", the combined event was broadcast on national television in UK, during which the audience for the women's race reached 4.8 million viewers. OUWBC won by six and half lengths that year. The Reserves race also moved to the Championship Course in 2015, running on the day prior to the main race. In 2016 all four men's and women's