Women’s cricket has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. Among the reasons for this, we find the success of national teams, increased investment from corporate sponsors, and the growing support of governing bodies. Plus, the advent of women’s professional leagues like the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia and the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in India. But it’s not the only women’s sport that’s begun to grow lately – there are many other sports where women are showing incredible prowess in a professional setting. So, let’s take a look at some of the women’s sports that are worth following in 2023.
Women’s Soccer
Back in 2019, the Women’s World Cup was followed by 1.12 billion fans, and for this year, the estimates speak of 2 billion viewers. The facts seem to confirm the estimates: both the ticket sales for the matches and their TV viewership have broken records this year.
Women’s soccer is becoming increasingly spectacular. And the interest in it is growing not just at the stadiums and in front of the TV screens, but at bookmakers as well. Every betting site at playcasino.co.za is reporting record-breaking bets placed on the matches of the Women’s World Cup, and growing interest in female professional soccer leagues like the Barclays Women’s Super League in England or the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in the US.
Women’s soccer is certainly a sport that’s worth watching today.
Women’s Basketball
While the NBA still steals the show when it comes to basketball, the interest in female basketball leagues, especially the WNBA, is on the rise. According to Nielsen’s viewership records, interest in the WNBA Draft has increased by 42% between 2022 and 2023. And this while its growth was hindered by the lack of coverage by sports channels.
In Europe, FIBA EuroLeague Women is constantly on the rise, with growing interest in national women’s basketball leagues as well. This makes women’s basketball another sport that’s worth watching.
Women’s Rugby
Finally, let’s not forget about a sport that may sound surprising, but is producing impressive viewership numbers: Women’s rugby. Many people don’t know that there’s a Women’s Six Nations Championship held every year since 2002 (it was a “four nations” championship when it was founded in 1996). The number of viewers following this year’s TikTok Women’s Six Nations Championship has grown by more than 25% compared to last year.
Women’s rugby is definitely a sport worth following.
There’s still room for growth
Why don’t women’s sports get more attention? There are two reasons: money, and attention. Women’s sports don’t get as much sponsorship money as their men’s counterparts, and their coverage on sports channels is also lacking. But things are slowly changing: with the viewership numbers growing, along with the fans’ interest, we’ll most likely see much more of them on all media channels in the near future.
Loves all things female cricket