After five years of the competition building into one of the best franchise leagues in the world, the new model aims to see it take its place below the IPL as the premier tournament outside of India. Even amid the teething problems at the start of that new phase, the ECB and new owners are looking ahead to what the next development to the tournament could be – separating the men’s and women’s competitions.
In a press conference last week, Richard Gould – the ECB’s chief executive – reiterated a vision he first outlined last year to split the two leagues. “One of the things that we may see at some point is more standalone women’s games, as an example,” said Gould. “There are opportunities for additional revenue streams, maybe, by splitting those games out, not just having more games.”
The double-headers have been the flagship strategy of The Hundred for attracting ticket sales with two matches for what was originally supposed to be the price of one. Changing that would fundamentally alter the product as it currently is, and would come with a multitude of complications. Logistically, playing both tournaments separately but in the same window would mean greater stresses on venues, team support staff and broadcasters. It would also jeopardise the indisputable positive impact aligning the men’s and women’s competition has had on the women’s game in England as a whole.
But, the full double-header model was not the ECB’s original vision for The Hundred. Before the Covid pandemic in 2020, the first season of The Hundred, the men’s and women’s tournaments were set to be played mostly separately, with a handful of double-headers but different Final days, and several county outgrounds acting as hosts for women’s fixtures. It was only when the pandemic meant that playing the tournaments together was the only practical way to get both competitions on the road amid bio-restrictions that the complete double-header model came into place.
Since then, that model has been its biggest success. More fans have attended women’s games than ever before in England, with records broken year-on-year for attendance at a women’s cricket competition worldwide, with almost 350,000 fans attending women’s Hundred games last year. Around 30 per cent of ticket-buyers each year are women, far higher than in any other English domestic competition. Beyond The Hundred being the ECB’s biggest tool for attracting new fans to the game, it’s their biggest asset in increasing their audience for women’s cricket as well.
“Above all, The Hundred is famous for its double-headers,” said Lauren Winfield-Hill on Wisden Women’s Cricket Weekly podcast. “It’s a niche because it’s a different format, but also because of those double-headers. The ‘one club’ thing, all of that makes The Hundred The Hundred... [Double-headers] is what makes it different to the WPL, WBBL, ILT20, and that’s from a men’s and women’s point of view. It’s not just the women.”
Given the successes the current model has had, separating the competitions is a risk, and one the ECB wouldn’t take without the prospect of serious reward for both them, and those they sold their stake in the franchises to. In theory, separating the competitions would open up double the ticket-selling potential the competition currently has. Instead of selling one ticket for two games, a single ticket for each game would be on offer. While there would be some reduction in the ticket price for reduced game-time, that would open up a significant new revenue opportunity. It would also allow the women’s Hundred to shine on its own stage. The ultimate goal would be selling out a Lord’s final on its own, without having to cut the on-field celebrations short so the men’s game could start.
This summer, the T20 World Cup smashed records for tickets sold to a standalone women’s cricket competition in England. Almost a quarter of a million tickets were sold for the tournament, and the final at Lord’s was the highest grossing women’s cricket match ever, generating £1 million in ticket sales. Those attendances will have given the ECB confidence that the women’s Hundred has significant revenue potential in its own right.
There must, however, be caution. In the only year where the men’s and women’s competitions didn’t fully line up - in 2022 when women’s cricket was included in the Commonwealth Games at the start of the Hundred window - ticket sales fell on the previous year. It was also clear during the week of a standalone men’s competition that it was a poorer product for fans, as opposed to the two matches they would have seen the previous year. Equally, the counties have struggled to increase audiences for women’s county cricket since the men’s and women’s structures have been aligned. Fewer than 4,000 people attended The Oval for Blast finals day in July this year, fewer than turned out last year.
Softer concerns should also be taken into account. By doubling the number of match days, the Hundred audience will be stretched thinner amid an already packed schedule. For the casual fans The Hundred aims to attract to one or two games of cricket per year, separating the competitions won’t encourage them to double their days out, it will only force them to choose. Often, it will be the women’s competition to miss out. At the moment, the women’s competition takes centre stage alongside the men’s, separation risks pushing it to the sidelines.
There’s no timeline currently for when separating the competitions could happen, but it’s notable that it still remains the ECB’s stated goal. The Helix trophy was introduced this year, further tying the men’s and women’s competitions together. Separating them would be a retraction of that. Equally, any changes to the competition will now have to be made in discussion with the franchise owners, who have so far been silent on the prospect of splitting the competitions. Any changes made to the existing format would have to be meticulously managed to ensure The Hundred remains the women’s game’s biggest asset.
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