Women’s cricket became an empire worth Rs 5,000 crore in India: WPL, brands and broadcasting changed the economy of the game.

There is a continuous growth in the market of women’s cricket in India.

Women’s T20 World Cup is going to start from Friday. The first match of this tournament will be between England and Sri Lanka. If we talk about India, the team will have to face Pakistan in its very first match. This match is to be played on 14th June. But today the talk will not be only about Women’s T20 World Cup 2026. Rather, it will be about the growing empire of women’s cricket in India. A new economic revolution is currently going on in the Indian sports world, and the face of this revolution is ‘Women’s Cricket’. In the last 3-4 years, the commercial market value of women’s cricket within India has skyrocketed and crossed the total valuation of Rs 5,000 crore.

The launch of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), the viewership of crores on television and digital screens, and the money being showered on women cricketers by big corporate houses has proved that women’s cricket in India is no longer just a game, but has become the fastest growing ‘mega-business’. The special thing is that if we look at the global women’s cricket commercial value, it has crossed the level of 1 billion dollars. In which India’s share is seen to be more than 50 percent. Let us also tell you how the country has seen a historic boom in the economy of Indian women’s cricket?

WPL: Powerhouse of Earnings and Valuation

WPL, run by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has become the backbone of the women’s sports economy in India. You can estimate its financial strength from three parameters. Which includes record sales of franchise, media rights central sponsorship.

1. Record sales of franchise: BCCI had earned Rs 4,669.6 crore by selling five teams in the first season of WPL. Today, the individual brand value of women’s teams like Mumbai Indians, RCB and Delhi Capitals is at par with men’s teams in many global football and basketball leagues.
2. Media Rights: Viacom18 bought its media rights for 5 years for Rs 951 crore (i.e. ₹ 7.09 crore per match). This per match value is the highest among any other women’s sporting event around the world.
3. Central Sponsorship: Crores of rupees are coming into the league’s account every year through title sponsorship and other associate sponsors by Tata Group.

Ad market gets new super star faces

Gone are the times when brands used to chase only male cricketers (like Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma). Today the demand for women cricketers in the Indian ad market is increasing at an annual rate of 250 percent. Smriti Mandhana is currently the face of more than 15 brands like Hyundai, Herbalife, Gulf Oil and Boost. His brand endorsement fee has reached Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore per year. Talking about Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues, they are signing multi-year deals worth crores with sports and automobile giants like Puma and CEAT. According to industry experts, by associating with women cricketers, brands get a very dedicated, positive and growing family audience, which directly increases the brand’s credibility and sales.

Tickets and digital reach of stadiums

Free-to-air access to women’s cricket matches on digital mediums (like GeoCinema) has broken all viewership records. During the recent India-Australia bilateral series and WPL matches, more than 50 to 70 million (5 to 7 crore) unique viewers were recorded on digital platforms. Apart from this, 100 per cent sale of tickets (housefull) in the matches being held at DY Patil in Mumbai and Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru has now become a routine thing.

players’ earnings

The biggest benefit of this business boom has been the pockets of women cricketers. Under BCCI’s ‘Equal Match Fee Policy’, now women cricketers, like men, get Rs 15 lakh per Test, Rs 6 lakh per ODI and Rs 3 lakh per T20 match. Apart from this, the annual salary of the top players of WPL has reached Rs 3.4 crore, which has made cricket a very attractive and safe career option for the young girls of the country.

not even challenges

Despite this tremendous growth, experts believe that women’s cricket still needs more ‘Bilateral Series’ and Test matches so that the earning cycle continues throughout the year. Increasing investment in infrastructure at the grassroots level in associate countries (small cricketing countries) is necessary to make this business sustainable.

Saurabh Sharma

Covering stock market, economy and commodities for 15 years. Before joining TV9, he was also associated with many big organizations like DNA, A-Shiyanet, Jansatta and Rajasthan Patrika.

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