The International Cricket Council (ICC) has informed the Indian broadcasters that there is no assurance that the rights will be awarded to the highest bidder in the women’s package. The largest must also be the best.
The world organization has separated women’s rights from men’s rights for the first time, with a focus on promoting women’s cricket. The decision is risky because it will highlight the difference in importance between men’s and women’s rights. However, it appears that the ICC has no issues admitting that women’s cricket has not yet reached its prime.
Before the bidding procedure, which will begin on Sunday, an informed source provided with the information “The best will prevail, not the biggest.” (August 22). It should be noted that these rights only apply to the territory of India.
Some concrete steps have been taken in response to the bravery and conviction shown regarding women’s cricket. The ICC recently announced, which calls for 301 matches to be played over the course of the next four years, including seven Tests, 135 ODIs, and 159 T20Is. Four significant international tournaments will take place over that time (2024–2027), with the women’s Champions Trophy being the most alluring and apparently attracting the greatest interest from bidders.
The ICC guarantees in the ITT (Invitation To Tender) document that the Indian team will play a minimum of 21 games in international competitions, including four in the 2024 T20 World Cup, seven in the 2025 women’s World Cup, five in the 2026 T20 World Cup, and five more in the 2027 Women’s Champions Trophy. The semi-finals and finals add up to 10 blockbuster games, and the bundle will include 31 unquestionably high-interest events.
An India Women’s World Cup match currently averages about 1 in the TRP charts, which is comparable to the ratings of an India Test match (men). The perception is that with effective marketing, the TRPs for a Women’s World Cup match might increase to between 3 and 4 for an IPL match.
The ICC has also moved the tournaments to the India time zone to emphasize the precautions. The women’s World Cup has recently taken place in Australia or New Zealand, neither of which are in the ideal time zone for India because the matches were held in the early morning hours. The following four competitions will be placed in the accommodating time zones of Bangladesh, England, India, and Sri Lanka.
