The Women's 2025 ODI World Cup will take place in October 2025 in India.
ICC’s Women’s Events, starting with the 2025 ODI World Cup in India, will have different sponsors from the men’s tournaments. This initiative aims to bring more attention to women’s cricket. It will also include the 2026 T20 World Cup and the 2027 Champions Trophy. The ICC has partnered with Unilever, with plans for expansion in the future.
“It is the first time we’ve offered commercial opportunities specifically for our women’s cricket events and we see this partnership as a significant marker of confidence in the standalone value of women’s cricket. The decoupling signals that women’s cricket is no longer an add-on or a freebie that’s attached to men’s games, but a distinct high-potential commercial product”, stated ICC’s Chief Commercial Officer Anurag Dahiya to ESPN Cricinfo.
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Dahiya described that people’s interest in women’s matches has significantly increased over the last few years. Across all metrics, including stadium appearances, broadcast and digital platforms, women’s cricket has consistently broken the records.
Reportedly, 15,935 people watched the group-stage match between India and Pakistan during the T20 World Cup 2024. Moreover, the tickets for the final match between New Zealand and South Africa were sold out. It was the third consecutive time that a women’s T20 final had been fully attended by the fans, following Newlands in 2023 and the MCG in 2020.
“It’s a shift from advertisers saying we are subsidising women’s cricket to saying we are genuinely investing in it, and that’s because we believe that it can drive revenue, audiences, and relevance. We are quite fortunate that we’re not having to go and promote women’s cricket to an entirely new cohort of audiences. Our core men’s fans are just as interested in women’s cricket as well”, expressed the Chief Commercial Officer.
Dahiya also ensured that the expansion of events provided them with some momentum. From 2026, 12 teams will compete in the T20 World Cup, increasing from 10 in 2016. Furthermore, the addition of a T20 Champions Trophy from 2027 secures one ICC women’s tournament every year.
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