Women's Big Bash is Australia's fourth most-watched local league

The Women's Big Bash League was the fourth-most watched domestic competition in Australia for the 2020-21 season.

Women's Big Bash League attracted an average audience of more than 200,000 for a sixth consecutive year. - GETTY IMAGES

The Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) was the fourth most-watched domestic competition in Australia for the 2020-21 season, Cricket Australia said on Friday, attracting an average audience of more than 200,000 for a sixth consecutive year. Total viewing hours for the Twenty20 tournament had also doubled since its inception in 2015, with the TV audience growing as the schedule expanded.

The WBBL, which had 23 international players participating in the latest season, had an average audience of 202,139, eclipsed only by the Australian Football League, National Rugby League and the men’s Big Bash League, Cricket Australia said.

The Australian women’s national team also built on the successful 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup campaign, recording an average traditional TV broadcast audience of 235,563 for the T20I series against New Zealand.

Cricket Australia said the trajectory of women’s international cricket remained “incredibly strong” and that TV viewership figures had increased 400 percent from the 2013-2016 period to 2017-2020.