Australian commercial broadcaster Ten has enhanced its coverage of the Women’s Big Bash League under a new deal for the second season of the Twenty20 cricket competition.
Season two of the WBBL will run from December 10 this year to January 28, 2017. Twelve matches will be broadcast live, up from 10 last campaign; ten of the 12 will be shown on Ten’s primary channel, up from three last year. All clubs will feature in a minimum of two broadcasts.
The new deal comes after Ten elected to step up its coverage of the inaugural WBBL mid-season, as Cricket Australia said it was targeting a standalone rights deal for future editions of the tournament.
The WBBL debuted last year to sit alongside the established men’s BBL, to which Ten also holds rights. CA said Ten’s new deal marks a “significant commitment” from the broadcaster off the back of the “resounding success” of the WBBL’s inaugural season.
Network Ten chief executive Paul Anderson said: “We will also for the first time broadcast the Melbourne Stars taking on the reigning premiers the Sydney Thunder in the Women’s Big Bash League, live from 6pm (on December 10). That will be the first time a standalone women’s sporting competition has been broadcast in prime time on a commercial free-to-air television network’s primary channel.”