Women's T20 Leagues: WPL, The Hundred, and the Rise of Women's Franchise Cricket
How women's franchise cricket has developed since 2023 — the Women's Premier League (WPL), The Hundred women's competition, the Women's Caribbean Premier League (WCPL), the players who have become franchised stars, and why women's franchise cricket matters for the global development of the sport.
The Watershed Moment: WPL 2023
The inaugural Women's Premier League (WPL) in March 2023 was a transformative event in women's cricket. BCCI sold five franchise teams for a combined total of approximately ₹4,670 crore ($571 million USD) — far exceeding expectations and signalling the commercial valuation of women's cricket had entered a new era. The five franchises (Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Trailblazers, Gujarat Giants) competed across 22 matches in a 16-day window, with multiple international women's players participating alongside emerging Indian talent.
The WPL's significance extended beyond Indian women's cricket: by creating a domestic franchise tournament of genuine commercial scale, it established precedent for women's cricket generating franchise value comparable to some men's domestic competitions. The player auction — with international stars like Meg Lanning, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, and Smriti Mandhana attracting competitive franchise bidding — demonstrated that women's cricketers could be valued as franchise assets in their own right rather than as secondary additions to men's teams.
The Hundred: Integrated Women's Competition
England's The Hundred competition (launched 2021) is distinctive in its structure: women's and men's teams are aligned with the same franchise names (Manchester Originals, London Spirit, Oval Invincibles, etc.) and play on the same days at the same venues — the women's match precedes or follows the men's match on a double-header format. This integrated model maximises attendance for the women's competition (the existing crowd from or for the men's match becomes the women's match audience) and ensures the women's game has equivalent broadcast visibility.
The Hundred women's competition began attracting genuinely large attendances from its first season — the 2022 women's final at Lord's was attended by approximately 25,000 spectators, the largest crowd for a women's cricket match in England at that time. The 2023 edition at Lord's surpassed this. The integration model has been cited as a template for other boards considering how to launch women's franchise competitions — the shared brand and venue infrastructure reduces the cost of establishing a new competition from scratch.
Women's Caribbean Premier League
The Women's Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) has operated since 2013, making it the longest-running women's franchise cricket competition. Its longevity reflects the Caribbean's early commitment to women's cricket development and West Indies' historically strong women's squad. The WCPL has provided a development pathway for several players who went on to international careers, and has served as a template for how a smaller cricket board can run a sustainable women's franchise league without the commercial scale of the BCCI.
Impact on Player Earnings and Career Sustainability
The most practical impact of women's franchise cricket has been on player earnings. Before the WPL, most women's international cricketers earned their primary income from national contracts that, even in Australia and England (the highest-paying boards), were substantially below men's national contracts. The WPL auction saw several players receive contracts above ₹50 lakh ($60,000+) for a single 16-day tournament — comparable to or exceeding their annual national contract payments in some cases. For a women's cricketer whose career earning potential was previously limited, franchise cricket has created a financial model that makes the sport a genuinely viable full-time professional career.
The Stars of Women's Franchise Cricket
Several women's cricketers have become genuine franchise stars — players whose value in franchise auctions reflects their commercial appeal as well as their cricketing quality. Smriti Mandhana (India) was the WPL's marquee auction player in 2023, attracting a franchise bid of ₹3.4 crore — the highest women's franchise contract in Indian cricket history at that point. Ellyse Perry (Australia), Beth Mooney (Australia), and Nat Sciver-Brunt (England) are consistently among the highest-valued foreign players in the WPL auction.
Deandra Dottin (West Indies) and Hayley Matthews (West Indies) have built significant franchise profiles through their performances in the WCPL and The Hundred. The franchise ecosystem has created a class of women's cricketers who are recognisable globally — able to attract broadcast audiences and sponsor attention beyond their home countries. This brand-building function of franchise cricket matters for the long-term commercial growth of women's cricket.
Frequently asked questions
Is the WPL equivalent to the IPL in scale?
No — not yet. The WPL operates on a smaller scale than the men's IPL in commercial terms (broadcast deals, total prize money, player contract values), but the gap has narrowed significantly. The franchise sale prices in 2023 established women's cricket franchise values at a level that would have been unimaginable five years earlier, and the commercial trajectory suggests continued growth. The WPL is the most commercially significant women's franchise league in cricket history.
Can overseas players participate in the WPL?
Yes — each WPL team can have up to five overseas players in their squad with a maximum of four overseas players in the playing XI. The overseas slots are competitive in the auction, with top international stars from Australia, England, West Indies, New Zealand, and South Africa participating. The overseas player limit ensures Indian talent remains central to the competition while allowing international quality to raise the overall standard.
What was the first women's franchise cricket competition?
The Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) in Australia, launched in 2015, is the oldest major women's T20 franchise competition. It preceded the WPL by 8 years and established the professional template — contracted players, broadcast deals, franchise marketing — that subsequent women's leagues have adapted. The WBBL has produced multiple Australian internationals who developed their skills specifically in the franchise environment.