When it comes to women’s sport the Women’s Super League (WSL) for soccer is leading the way in viewing figures.
After posting some promising figures of audience growth in 2022, The Hundred – Women’s Competition can look to further inspiration from the WSL to grow this exciting new brand of cricket.
WSL Setting The Example
Looking back at the 2021-22 WSL season, a report from the Women’s Sport Trust showed the viewing hours for the competition was up to 34.048 million. Chelsea, who are serious contenders in the betting tips today to retain their title, won the league by a single point over Arsenal last season. An entertaining title race between the Blues and the Gunners will have certainly contributed to the viewing figures going up from 8.83 million hours for the 2020-21 WSL season.
The nature of The Hundred competition, with the tournament going into an eliminator and then a final, means there will always be an interesting climax to the season. While soccer in the UK and across Europe has been reluctant to change the format of the season to add a playoff phase, audiences can be drawn to the all-or-nothing element of knockout and final cricket in The Hundred. It was the Oval Invincibles who ran out winners last season, with Marizanne Kapp playing a key role in their final win over Southern Brave.
The WSL does have an advantage with the women’s teams working under the same umbrella of the Premier League and EFL soccer clubs. In that regard, the brand is something the fanbase can easily buy into and has been a key element in growing the WSL audience. The Hundred is still a new competition, having completed its second-ever season in 2022. However, the attachment to the newly-named teams, over going down the route of county names, does appear to be growing. Female ticket buyers for The Hundred games last season went up to 28% of all admissions and was up from 21% the previous campaign. It’s still early days for the Hundred but the signs of growth in the women’s audience, both at the grounds and on TV, are moving in the right direction.
National Success Can Act As A Springboard
While the improvement of the domestic game helps the national sides, success for England has a massive boost for domestic cricket and soccer. England’s women made headlines with their success on the soccer field last year as they managed to win the European Championship for the first time in their history. A new era of English soccer stars boosted the profile of the WSL, as audiences can now tune in to watch these new stars feature for their clubs.
Led by skipper Heather Knight, England’s women almost pulled off a similar success last year as they fell just short in the Women’s Cricket World Cup final in New Zealand. Beaten by old rivals Australia in the final, it was still an admirable achievement for England and will have helped promote English women cricketers ahead of the new The Hundred season in 2023.
While the WSL is now the major player in viewing figures for women’s sport, The Hundred can be proud of the progress made in 2022 and will be expecting further growth in the highly-anticipated season to come.
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