Business of Sport
Women’s county cricket faces up to challenges in shadow of The Hundred
Women’s county cricket faces an array of challenges as well as opportunities following this summer’s edition of The Hundred, according to expert contributors to the Leonard Curtis Cricket Finance Report.
The sixth Hundred final, played at Lord’s on Sunday 16th August, attracted 27,416 spectators, who saw new winners of both competitions as Trent Rockets claimed the women’s title before Manchester Super Giants became the new men’s champions.
While total ticket sales for this year’s tournament – which continues to split opinion across English cricket – fell by around 5% from last year, down to 550,000 from 580,000, demographics remained similar to the 2025 edition, with 22% of tickets sold for under-16s, 40% for families and 28% for women.
A double-header format is used throughout the competition, with each women’s game held before the men’s, and the average crowd to watch the women’s contests in 2026 was 8,458, compared with 14,030 for the men’s, and The Telegraph reported that it is now “totally embedded that families arrive in time for the women’s game”.
Gessica Howarth, vice-president and a founding member of Sphera Partners, a growth equity investment firm with a key focus on women’s sport, said The Hundred, which first took place in 2021 and has awarded equal prize money since its inception, now faces a fresh challenge around the women’s competition as expectations rise over its potential impact across the game.
“The challenge now is different from the one it faced at launch,” she said. “Its early job was to introduce new audiences to women's cricket, and it has largely done that.
“The next job is ensuring those audiences engage with the wider domestic game rather than treating The Hundred as the only women's competition worth following.
“The Hundred should become the shop window, not the entire shop. If supporters only watch women's cricket for four weeks each summer, the domestic ecosystem will struggle to sustain itself.”
Women’s T20 Blast finals day attendance drops amid scheduling concerns
The packed-out Lord’s for this year’s Hundred final provided a stark contrast to the attendance of 3,852 for the Women’s T20 Blast finals day at The Kia Oval, held on Friday 17th July, still in term time for most schools in London and elsewhere.
The figure marked a significant drop from the 5,761 who attended the inaugural Women’s T20 Blast finals day at the same ground last summer on Sunday 27th July, with the ECB pointing to scheduling constraints in a busy 2026 calendar for women’s cricket.
The Women’s T20 Blast was introduced in 2025 alongside a new professional structure for women’s domestic cricket, with teams connected to each of the 18 first-class counties for the first time.
The move is designed to widen the pool of players ready to be selected for England, as well as help expand fanbases across the women’s domestic game and ultimately boost grassroots participation.
However, it comes amid signs of a widening gap in financial strength between the seven counties who host a team in The Hundred and the 11 non-hosts, with fears this will affect the ability of some counties to invest in women’s cricket alongside ECB subsidies.
The extent of the divide was underlined in the Leonard Curtis Cricket Finance Report 2026, which revealed that the ‘big four’ of Surrey, Lancashire, Hampshire and Warwickshire between them generated 53% (£134m) of the total annual revenue of all 18 first-class counties (£253m) in 2024.
“Substantial investment” required as commercial revenues develop
Prof Rob Wilson, who is a professor of applied sport finance and co-author of the report, said: “Women’s domestic cricket has significant opportunities through increased visibility, stronger commercial interest and a growing player base.
“However, financial sustainability remains a major challenge. Professional salaries, facilities, coaching and medical support require substantial investment, while commercial revenues are still developing.
“The priority is to grow attendances, sponsorship and broadcast income steadily without compromising the quality of the professional environment.”
David Brown, a Leonard Curtis director and former batting all-rounder for Gloucestershire and Glamorgan, commented: “Aligning women’s teams with the 18 first-class counties should strengthen club identities, improve facilities and provide more consistent support for players.
“Over time, this structure has the potential to strengthen the pathway from grassroots cricket to county level, The Hundred and the England team, while also encouraging greater investment from counties themselves.
“However, better fixture scheduling, stronger marketing and increased attendances will all be essential.”
Building on Women’s T20 World Cup 2026
The Leonard Curtis Cricket Finance Report 2026 also assesses how counties can build on England’s hosting of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, held on 12th June to 5th July. It proved to be the largest edition of the tournament so far, with 245,815 fans attending across 25 match days, breaking the previous competition record by more than 100,000.
“The biggest advantage of staging a World Cup is that it introduces new audiences to the live experience, many of them watching women's cricket in person for the first time,” Howarth said.
“If they enjoy it, the opportunity then exists to convert them into regular attendees at county cricket and The Hundred.
“That conversion is where the long-term value is created, and it does not happen automatically. We have seen across other sports that there is usually a spike in awareness and participation, but interest drifts back towards previous levels unless there is a deliberate plan to retain it.”
Targeting financial sustainability
As counties assess their strategies around women’s cricket, Prof Wilson says the game can deliver financial sustainability over time if it achieves consistent growth.
“Counties should not expect immediate financial returns,” he explained. “In the short term, the value of investing in women’s cricket is likely to be measured through stronger community engagement, increased commercial appeal and enhanced club reputation rather than direct profitability.
“However, longer-term financial returns are achievable if counties continue to build audiences, develop commercial partnerships and integrate women’s cricket fully into their wider business strategies.”
Brown added: "The Hundred has done much to raise the profile of the women's game in recent years, which is encouraging. Building on that foundation, the ECB, counties and other stakeholders now have the opportunity to weave women's cricket more fully into the wider game, rather than treating it as a standalone initiative."
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