No hype, just rise: The power play of women's sport

Women's sport is no longer craving a moment in the sun. In fact, over the past few years, it's had several such moments. Now, with the emergence of passionate fans who "cheer for the women's teams just the way that they cheer for the men's teams," those moments are "beginning to turn into a movement," said Sanjog Gupta, who was recently appointed CEO of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

In 2024, women's elite sports hit $1.88 billion in global revenue and is predicted to achieve at least $2.35 billion in 2025, according to a recent report by Deloitte. And this growth is not limited to football, tennis or basketball. Cricket is among the fastest growing women's sports in the world and is attracting a lot of investment. In 2023, the sale of five Women's Premier League (WPL) franchises fetched the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ₹4,670 crore ($572 million).

"For the longest time, there was a perception problem with women's sport. A lot of it started changing largely because of three big things," Gupta said during a fireside chat at the event on Saturday.


"One, heroes. They caught the imagination of young girls and boys because they had inspirational stories. Two, investments. The WPL is a classic example of how you attract private investment towards a purpose," he said. "The third big thing is just the vision and the belief that this is a genuine opportunity for the future."

Former India captain Mithali Raj, who has seen women's cricket's journey from close quarters, said it was always a good product but lacked proper marketing. She cited the example of India's runners-up finish in the 2005 World Cup at home which largely went unnoticed. However, a similar run in 2017 changed everything because the games were televised.

"I think that has really helped the sport grow leaps and bounds, and helped the profile of the sport, the profile of the players," Raj said. "The parents (have) now started to realise that it is no longer a passion sport, but a professional sport."

The WPL, just a three-season-old tournament, has further accelerated the growth of women's cricket. Not just in India, but globally. The tournament's media rights fetched ₹951 crore ($116 million), making it the second most expensive women's league behind the WNBA.

"The WPL is doing for women's cricket what the IPL did for men's cricket many years ago," said Gupta, who was CEO of JioStar before joining the ICC. "The expansion of the opportunities, exposure and career paths beyond the national team is galvanizing people to believe that it's genuinely an opportunity worth pursuing."

Mithali concurred.

"It (WPL) is one of those very important milestones for women's cricket in India," she said. "I'm a mentor for Andhra Cricket Association. I met these under-15 girls in one of the camps, and I told them to write their goal on a paper and give it to me. Out of about 18 girls, 12 or 13 said their goal is to play in WPL. So that's the impact it has brought into the players. For many from humble backgrounds, it's such a proud moment for their family, and financial security, apart from the career option that they get."

Gupta pointed out that in 2024 cricket became one of the few team sports that offer equal prize money for the women's and men's world cups. India is set to host the ICC Women's World Cup in a few weeks. Earlier this year, the BCCI also announced that it would pay its cricketers, whether men or women, the same match fee, becoming one of the first boards to close the gender pay gap.

"Those two decisions, pay parity and equal prize money, are largely signals to the world that there isn't a difference between a male cricketer and a female cricketer," Gupta said. "It's a world cup. There's a cricketer who needs to be compensated for his or her skill on the field, and it doesn't matter what the gender is. These two signals are imperative in the overall context for the world to see what the potential of women's sport, and particularly women's cricket can be."