The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is starting this week, and what a grand way to launch the event right in the middle of Waterloo Bridge in London, against the backdrop of the River Thames, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the London Eye, and the Elizabeth Tower (commonly known as Big Ben).
The pre-tournament promotional event called the “Captains’ Carnival” was held on the bridge, where all the 12 captains stepped off an iconic red double-decker bus onto a specially constructed pitch and participated in various cricketing challenges, had interactions with fans, followed by photoshoots and promotional video content shot right there on the pitch.
Global press coverage, with content creators and digital influencers gathering to cover the event for their followers. ICC has just nailed it by organizing such a grand and immersive experience for audiences globally, which I later learnt is exactly what experiential marketing means! The ICC & England and Wales Cricket Board literally shut down traffic on London’s Waterloo Bridge.
Note: The actual opening ceremony of the tournament is on June 12 at Edgbaston, Birmingham
I don’t remember a pre-tournament event of this grandeur and size in the previously held ICC Women’s tournaments.
I wanted to write about what the ICC did on Waterloo Bridge as a marketing moment. But one thing led to another, and I ended up writing about something far more riveting, how Women’s Cricket has changed in the last 10 years.
The Way It Was.
ICC previously sold the media and sponsorship rights of Women’s Cricket bundled with Men’s Cricket as a single multi-year package. Since Men’s Cricket was dominating for a long time, Women’s Cricket was considered a secondary product by the broadcasters.
As a result, none of the major sports broadcasting channels wanted to cover Women’s Cricket. On paper, they saw no commercial value in it and viewed it as a guaranteed financial loss. It was equally hard to convince sponsors to invest, given the unprofitable nature of the business model back then.
I also learnt that before 2016, only the semi-finals and the final match of a Women’s Cricket tournament would get televised. All the group stage matches were played simply to no one’s notice.
The Moment Things Changed.
The massive success of the Women’s T20 World Cup held in Australia in 2020 changed everything. The final between Australia and India garnered almost 86,000 fans in attendance at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground and generated close to 1 billion views globally. This was when the commercial value of Women’s Cricket as a product stood out.
As a result, the ICC decided to unbundle the media and sponsorship rights of Women’s Cricket and began selling it as an exclusive, standalone package from 2020 onwards.
Fast Forward to Today.
From there to last year’s Women’s ODI World Cup in India, the total digital reach in India rose to 446 million viewers, the highest ever for women’s cricket and greater than the combined total of the last three ICC Women’s World Cups. Globally, the tournament generated a stunning 5.2 billion video views, an extraordinary increase from the 1.5 billion achieved during the 2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
The final between India and South Africa brought a whopping 185 million viewers on JioHotstar, equalling the viewership of the Men’s T20 World Cup final in 2024.
And just ahead of this week’s ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, around 200,000 tickets have already been sold before the tournament has even started, a record that hasn’t been seen at any previous ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
Didn’t expect to learn all of this from a Cricket Carnival on a bridge! But I hope it was a worthwhile read for you.
Sources-
- ICC Official Press Release — Captains’ Carnival, Waterloo Bridge (https://www.icc-cricket.com/media-releases/women-s-cricket-takes-over-london-waterloo-bridge-turns-into-epic-pitch-for-launch-of-icc-women-s-t20-world-cup-2026-with-captains-carnival)
- ICC — CWC25 Final Viewership Figures (https://www.icc-cricket.com/tournaments/womens-cricket-worldcup-2025/news/cwc25-final-draws-benchmark-viewership-figures)
- ICC — Women’s CWC 2025 Global Digital Engagement Records (https://www.icc-cricket.com/tournaments/womens-cricket-worldcup-2025/news/icc-women-s-cricket-world-cup-2025-sets-unprecedented-global-digital-engagement-records)
- Times of India — ICC ponders separating women’s media rights after T20 World Cup success (ICC ponders separating women’s media rights after T20 World Cup success | Cricket News – Times of India)
- News18 — ICC Women’s World Cup Final Matches Men’s T20 World Cup Viewership on JioHotstar Historic Equaliser! ICC Women’s World Cup Final Matches Men’s T20 World Cup Triumph Eyeballs On JioHotstar | Cricket News – News18)
- ICC Official YouTube — Captains’ Carnival Live Stream, Waterloo Bridge (https://www.youtube.com/live/DbNZ3u350Aw?si=66Yol73_j0gnrrks)
