Attendances at the T20 Women’s World Cup show cricket is hitting the wicket where it counts

The 8th edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup was the most watched ICC women’s event to date, according to ICC statistics.

The final wrapped up in spectacular fashion with Australia beating hosts South Africa by 19 runs at Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town on 26 February.

South Africa hosted the biggest celebration of women’s cricket in the world, with an attendance of 12,782 at the final setting a record for women’s cricket in the country.

With almost 70 000 spectators attending the tournament, gone are the days when these attendances were reserved for the men’s game.

While it was a landmark moment for the sport in the country, it did not meet the same amount of attendance figures that the 2023 Cup saw, which was the highest attendance for a women’s cricket event globally and highest attendance for a women’s sporting event in Australia of 136,549.

The below chart compares attendance figures (blue) and final viewership figures (green) to the final match of the 2020 and 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in millions.

After the Cape Town final, the ICC released statistics that showed that the tournament achieved a remarkable global live viewing hours milestone of 192 million, with 6.9 million of those hours attributed to viewership from the UK.

These numbers represent a significant increase of 44% and 26% respectively compared to the 2020 tournament in Australia, establishing it as the most-watched Women’s T20 World Cup in history.

When England’s journey came to an end at the semi-final stage, and they were defeated by the host nation, South African viewership resulted in a remarkable 790% increase in viewership within the country, compared to the viewership of the previous cup.

The below chart compares the figures of the global audience in online content and broadcast views to the final match of the 2017, 2020 and 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in millions.

Despite not making it to the final this time, India experienced a notable 57% increase in viewership compared to 2020. The most popular match in India was their group stage encounter against Pakistan, which amassed an impressive 32.8 million live viewing hours.

Furthermore, there was substantial growth in online viewership, with the ICC’s digital channels witnessing a significant uplift of 26% more video views across all platforms. The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 recorded a staggering 1.39 billion video views, surpassing the 1.1 billion views achieved during the 2020 edition in Australia.

During the tournament, the ICC website and app attracted 12.5 million unique users, representing a 20% increase compared to the 50-over 2022 World Cup held in New Zealand.

The website and app introduced several innovative features for the tournament, including VR ShotTracker, which allowed fans to witness augmented replays of every six, a vertical video feed showcasing in-game and match highlights from every game, as well as various interactive activations for on-site attendees.

So, after looking at the dramatic increase in these latest figures, could these statistics be attributed to a rise in professionalism in the women’s game?

Let’s take a look at some of the measures world cricket has taken in recent years.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has taken steps to promote and support women’s cricket. In 2017, the ICC launched the first-ever standalone Women’s World Cup, which played out to a sold-out crowd at Lords and was largely hailed as a huge success.

Further afield, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) introduced new regulations and policies in October 2022 to promote gender equality, including equal match fees for its men’s and women’s internationals.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced, “The match fee for both men and women cricketers will be the same as we move into a new era of gender equality in (Indian) cricket… Pay equity was my commitment to our women cricketers.”

https://twitter.com/JayShah/status/1585527306352676865

Former India women’s team captain Mithali Raj hailed the announcement as “historic”, and the new policy would “usher in a new era for women’s cricket in India”.

This is a historic decision for women’s cricket in India! The pay equity policy along with the WIPL next year, we are ushering into a new era for women's cricket in India. Thank you @JayShah Sir & the @BCCI for making this happen. Really happy today. https://t.co/xOwWAwsxfz

— Mithali Raj (@M_Raj03) October 27, 2022

Many other countries have also implemented initiatives to promote and support women’s cricket at the grassroots level, which has helped to increase participation and interest in the sport.

Currently, there are several areas of the globe that have embraced women’s cricket professionalism in domestic leagues, and players professionally contracted to play for the national team. Some of the most prominent ones include:

• Australia – The Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) is the top domestic competition in Australia.
• England – The Women’s Cricket Super League (WCSL) was the top domestic competition in England until it was replaced by the new Women’s Hundred competition in 2020.
• New Zealand – The Hallyburton Johnstone Shield is the top domestic competition in New Zealand.
• South Africa – The Women’s T20 Super League is a domestic T20 competition in South Africa that features top players from the country.
• West Indies – The Women’s Super50 Cup is the top domestic competition in the West Indies.

Countries such as Pakistan and Sri Lanka also have some professionals, although the financial support and infrastructure is not be as developed as in the above-mentioned countries.

Cricketers are increasingly featured in advertising campaigns, TV broadcasts, and social media, which has helped to raise their profile and attract more interest and support.

Of course, this increased professionalisation of women’s cricket has led to higher levels of competition and an overall brighter future for the sport.

While the level of professionalism in women’s sports varies greatly between countries, regions, and specific sports, there are still many sports that are semi-professional, lack professionalism entirely, or have a significant gender pay gap.

This means a significant lack of investment in many areas, including marketing, promotion, and infrastructure and fewer opportunities for female athletes to make a living from sport compared with men.

Lest we forget, gender stereotypes and discrimination still exist in sport, leading to fewer opportunities and a lack of support for female athletes.

Addressing these problems will require continued investment and support for women’s sports, as well as a concerted effort to challenge gender stereotypes and discrimination in all areas of sport for years to come.

But, the game of cricket seems to be doing something right. As more people have become interested in women’s cricket, there has been a corresponding increase in demand for high-quality, professional-level competitions and athletes.

The creation of more opportunities and support for female athletes can help to promote greater gender equality and create a more inclusive and diverse sporting community.

The way the cricketing world has pushed for professionalism and gender equality in the sport should be used as a prototype for other sports where this support is lacking.