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Harmanpreet Kaur’s Indian women’s cricket team made history on 2nd November, 2025, at the DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai. The team has become the first from the country to lift the Women’s World Cup title. Playing their third final after losing in 2005 and 2017, the host team rose to the occasion in style, defeating South Africa by 52 runs in the title clash to script a landmark moment in Indian cricket. India’s win also brought home a record-breaking USD 4.48 million (`39.78 crore) in prize money from the International Cricket Council (ICC) – the highest ever for any Cricket World Cup. Rewarding the team, the BCCI also announced a grand cash reward of `51 crore for the team.

In terms of viewership, early reports from platforms like JioHotStar indicated 121 million viewers within the first few overs, rising to 135 million mid-match and ultimately exceeding 190 million in the final. This surpasses 126 million viewers for the 2017 Women’s World Cup final in India, and even rivals major men’s events in peak concurrency. According to ICC reports, the World Cup 2025 has enjoyed a strong viewership, which reflects growing fan engagement with women’s cricket and the power of strategic collaboration between the ICC, JioHotStar, and the BCCI. This commercial viability and the growing fans worldwide of women’s cricket isn’t a midnight phenomenon but a long, arduous grit and determination of the past and current athletes of the game who did not bow down to the economic struggles and lack of support to achieve milestones to be as successful as their male counterparts.

The long road to pay parity

During an interaction with Lallantop, Mithali Raj was asked about each player’s contract when she started playing for the country in the early 2000s. Speaking about the same, she revealed that there was no contract before the BCCI. “Following India’s runner-up finish in the 2005 Women’s World Cup, a significant achievement, each player received only `1,000 per match, totaling around `8,000 for the entire tournament.” Raj identified India’s participation in the 2017 World Cup final against England at Lord’s as a seminal moment. The ICC’s digital and social media channels received a record 100 million video views. “Until then, we really did not have that sort of coverage,” said Raj. India lost to the hosts, but it was a ground-breaking match. It was sold out, and according to India’s Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), the final generated 19.53 million impressions in India, making it the most-watched female sports event in the country, beating the badminton final at the Rio Olympics between PV Sindhu and Carolina Marin.

By 2020, Star Sports was broadcasting India’s matches at the Women’s T20 World Cup in five different languages. India’s defeat by Australia in the final was watched in India by a record live average audience of 9.02 million. After reaching and

losing, another final, this time in front of a record crowd of 86,174 at the MCG, the BCCI raised women’s international match fees to be equal with men’s in 2022. Raj lauded the BCCI’s 2022 decision to implement equal match fees as “historic” and a “landmark” step towards tackling discrimination.

Current commercial trend of women’s cricket

The women’s cricket world had long been waiting for the women’s version of the Indian Premier League (IPL). When it finally arrived in 2023, it exploded onto the scene with five teams bought for approximately Rs.54 billion, and Viacom bought the media rights for `11 billion over five years. The competition turned a profit and contributed around 3.9%, exter-nal to the BCCI’s revenue in the 2023-24 financial year. That is overshadowed by the IPL’s contribution of 59.10%, but it is a vindication of the BCCI waiting until the market was right.

With the 2025 World Cup, the viewership numbers tell a story of exponential growth. The tournament’s first 13 matches attracted over 60 million viewers—a fivefold increase from the 2022 edition. The India-Australia semi-final peaked at 4.8 million concurrent viewers on JioHotstar and attracted 131 million overall. This explosion in viewership has had ripple effects across the ecosystem. Advertising rates for the final surged by 40%, magnifying the commercial viability of women’s cricket. The impact extends beyond numbers. The final itself drew a capacity crowd, and the stadium was packed, creating an e lectric atmosphere. The data suggests this victory arrived at the exact right moment.

Higher viewership always leads to higher pricing power. The world of advertising is finally paying attention.

The market forces are finally interested. This is proof of economic credibility.