The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board has approved a number of comprehensive measures aimed at accelerating cricket's global growth, strengthening women's cricket, and expanding the sport's digital and commercial footprint. These decisions were finalized following an ICC Board meeting on November 7. Among the key announcements, the ICC announced an increase in the number of teams in the 2029 Women's ODI World Cup from eight to ten. This move follows the tremendous success of the 2025 Women's World Cup in India, which set new records for viewership and attendance, reaffirming the ICC's commitment to women's cricket.
The ICC Board is keen to build on the success of the event and has agreed to increase the number of teams to 10 (from eight in 2025) in the next edition of the tournament.The event attracted nearly 300,000 spectators in stadiums, the largest ever for any women's cricket tournament, the ICC said in a statement. "The tournament also set new records on TV and digital platforms, with nearly 500 million viewers in India alone." The ICC believes that given this popularity and the rapidly growing influence of women's cricket, it is the right time to expand the reach of the World Cup even further.
ICC reviews collaboration with IOC
The ICC reviewed its collaboration with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the organizers of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. Cricket will be included in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, featuring a total of 28 T20 International matches with six teams for both men and women. The sport will also be part of the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, the 2027 African Games in Egypt, and will make its debut at the 2027 Pan-American Games in Peru.
The ICC has also approved the Invitation to Tender (ITT) for global video gaming rights, opening up partnership opportunities to provide fans with interactive digital experiences. A data consolidation project will further advance AI-driven fan engagement and commercial analytics.
Women's ODI World Records on Digital Platform
India's historic title win in the ICC Women's ODI World Cup set new benchmarks for cricket broadcasting in the country, with a total of 446 million viewers watching the tournament on digital platforms, according to the official broadcaster.JioHotstar said in a release on Friday that the Women's World Cup final, in which India defeated South Africa to win the ICC title for the first time, was watched by 185 million users on its platform.
Viewership for the final was higher than the daily average for the Indian Premier League (IPL), but was on par with last year's men's T20 World Cup final between India and South Africa. The broadcaster said in a release that the 446 million viewers was the highest ever for women's cricket and more than the combined total of the last three Women's World Cups.
The Women's World Cup final attracted 21 million viewers, making Harmanpreet Kaur's team the first Asian team to win the Women's World Cup. Setting another record, 92 million people watched the historic match on Connected TV (CTV), equaling the CTV viewership of the T20 World Cup 2024 final and the World Cup 2023 final.
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