One of the defining traits of a game has to be its reach into the masses. We, as fans of women’s cricket, have been advocating its wider coverage. The pandemic, however, has shattered the plans for the promotion of the game. WBBL now seems to unroll and the plans to promote the game are back on the road. In recent reports, more matches are going to be covered by the efforts of WBBL.
Foxtel has extended partnership with women’s cricket as they plan to cover 36 WBBL games. It has to be noted that the Seven Network had already announced its expansion of the broadcast schedule to 24 games. The broadcast footprint, according to reports, would see a jump of 57% as matches across are televised by Seven and Fox Cricket. Fans can catch all 59 matches of WBBL on Kayo Sports. 35 matches would also be streamed on the CA Live app and Cricket.com.au.
ABC Radio will take the charge of the radio waves and will cover a total of 49 matches. Alistair Dobson who acts as CA (Cricket Australia) head of Big Bash Leagues thanked the broadcast partners of the league and the betterment they bring to the game. Dobson said that the recent announcement by Foxtel confirms that WBBL has emerged as the world’s best women’s cricket league. While recalling the success of the previous season, he added that the broadcast footprint is expected to rise by 50% with recent announcements and the backing of partners like ABC Radio and Fox.
The General Manager of Fox Cricket Matt Weiss said that “Following on from Australia’s T20 World Cup victory, women’s cricket is riding a wave of popularity as we have never seen before – we are proud to increase our WBBL coverage this year by another 12 matches which is a great outcome for our subscribers. This is another example of Fox Sports commitment to women’s sport”.
As the game will increase its reach, more young faces will aspire to play women’s cricket. The growth of the game relies heavily on how accessible it is to the masses and these updates are heartening.
A student who enjoys studying cricket more than anything else, keen to learn the insights of the women’s game.