This year Cricket Australia decided to move the Women’s Big Bash League to the start of summer and it has been glorifying since then. This season has smashed a hit with an increase in viewership and the league’s free-to-air ratings jumped up 25 percent.
This is the first instance where its running single-handedly and its clearly benefiting from lack of television traffic when compared to its previous seasons. WBBL being one of the few sporting events televised this season is gaining more popularity than ever.
The decision was anyway a risk taken but it comes out as a feasible option now, with the success it is gaining the Seven Network is on the verge to seriously consider moving more matches from 7Mate to their primary channel.
An average audience of 236,000 were recorded while Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy’s recorded 199-run stand for the Sydney Sixers against the Melbourne Stars on Seven, creating a world record.
“It’s proof we made the right decision to pull the WBBL into its own window,” Sixers general manager Jodie Hawkins said. “The players have been really respectful to working with the broadcaster and also played some really good cricket.”
However, the in-house attendance has experienced some decrease, which was also noticed last year during the WBBL 04. “We knew we were going to take a hit there in order to build a stand-alone window,” Hawkins said. “We’re okay with that because the ratings have been really positive. “It’s going to take some time to educate around attendances in October and November. “But you’ve got to make the change at some point and the ratings are telling us that we made the right choice, and the crowds will come.”
On the field statistics are consistent and the standards are maintained, while a slight decrease in the run rate has been noticed, it has dropped slightly from 7.23 to 7.19 an over and somewhat same amount of boundaries are recorded.
Australia is set to host the World T20 tournament next year, with the home team defending their title in February and March.
Source: Cricket.com.au
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