Overview
- India defeated South Africa by 52 runs in the Nov. 2 final at Navi Mumbai’s D.Y. Patil Stadium, which sold out at roughly 45,000 for the largest crowd at an ICC women’s event.
- ICC and JioHotstar reported that the first 13 matches drew more than 60 million viewers, about five times the audience of the 2022 edition.
- Platform figures showed India–Pakistan reached 28.4 million viewers and 1.87 billion minutes of watch time, while India–Australia peaked at 4.8 million concurrent viewers on JioHotstar.
- The opening match in Guwahati drew nearly 23,000 spectators, the highest attendance recorded for a group-stage game at an ICC women’s tournament.
- Reports credited structural shifts such as BCCI’s absorption of the WCAI and the WPL’s launch for the surge, while noting ongoing gaps in infrastructure, pay and domestic opportunities.