How The Hundred has helped women’s sport become accessible, exciting and equal

Women’s sport is winning. Record-breaking attendances at the Women’s Rugby World Cup, rising broadcast deals in basketball, and The Hundred delivering record crowds at four different venues, including 22,542 at the final.

The Hundred has undoubtedly changed women’s cricket in this country. A tournament built on equality from the start has proven to be one of the most powerful forces in women’s sport. This year, more people than ever filled the stands and tuned in. Half the tournament is women’s cricket, part of the foundation on which the competition is built. Parity has been the promise from day one, and it continues to deliver.

That promise has carried beyond the match days, it’s carried into digital content too. Since the beginning we’ve ensured content has had gender parity at the heart of it, ensuring that male and female cricketers show up together, not as the women’s competition and the men’s but as The Hundred. 

This unified approach ensures more fans have a clear way in and reasons to watch The Hundred without their attention being divided. The result was increased viewership, with The Hundred now recording more than a billion viewers on their digital channels. Ultimately, whether you’re participating or viewing, in sport both roads lead to increased fandom. And The Hundred is positioned perfectly to deliver against increasing both. 

The numbers tell their own story. 1.5 million people have now watched the women’s competition live, with 203,000 attending their first-ever game. Audiences on Sky and the BBC rose again, while BBC Sport recorded 2.2 million online viewing requests for The Hundred in 2025, up from 1.6 million in 2024. Record crowds filled venues nationwide, reflecting the growing appetite for the women’s game.

It’s not only TV that has grown; audiences are actively engaging with The Hundred. Its social channels reached over a billion views, bringing new fans into cricket who might never have watched before. Shorter, sharper, and easier to follow, The Hundred remains an accessible and entertaining entry point into the sport.

The Hundred has also become pivotal in the wider ecosystem supporting women’s cricket, providing a platform for emerging talent and for players in and around the England sides to develop, test themselves against the world’s best and experience the pressures that come with bigger crowds, more cameras and increased viewership. The Hundred’s arguably the closest to an international setting you can get without playing for a country. It’s perfect for nurturing and getting talent ready for international cricket.

In October 2024, the UK Government launched the Women’s Sport Investment Accelerator to drive funding into women’s sport, including England Women’s Cricket. In 2025, the ECB’s new domestic structure has eight professional Tier 1 teams and more contracts for players, tangible proof of the game’s rapid growth.

This is not happening in isolation. Take sponsorship and ad rates for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025, which surged by as much as 50 per cent. Brands are recognising that women’s sport delivers value, visibility, and connection. Fans are not just watching; they are engaged, loyal, and are showing their purchasing power. The Hundred offers sponsors a space where equality meets influence and where investment in women’s sport is both a smart business move and a statement of intent.

The Hundred is not just growing women’s cricket. It is redefining how it is seen and experienced. Accessible, exciting, and equal, it has brought new audiences, created new role models, and helped the women’s game take its biggest step yet.

Matt Farnworth is head of creative strategy at Multiple