Inside the WPL 2026 buying season

WPL 2026 enters the market on the back of a year that fundamentally altered the scale and perception of women’s cricket in India. Scheduled from January 9 to February 5, 2026, with five teams, 22 matches, and a dedicated 7 pm prime-time slot, the league builds on unprecedented momentum created by India’s ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 triumph. The win marked the country’s first-ever Women’s ODI World Cup title.

As per media reports, India’s win over South Africa drew 185 million digital viewers, putting it on par with the 2023 and 2024 Men’s World Cup finals and surpassing even the Men’s IPL’s daily reach. Peak concurrency touched 21 million, while 92 million viewers watched via Connected TV, matching CTV numbers for the Men’s World Cup finals, both of which also featured India. Across the tournament, digital reach climbed to 446 million, the highest ever for a women’s cricket event and larger than the combined viewership of the previous three World Cup editions.

This surge carried directly into the Women’s Premier League. According to the broadcaster, WPL 2025 delivered a TV reach of 233 million, comparable to the men’s Asia Cup and four times larger than the biggest GEC show on a 30-day basis. The opening match alone crossed 3 crore TV viewers, with ratings rising 150% year-on-year. Digital viewership grew 70%, and CTV viewing jumped 102%, underscoring the rapid shift of premium audiences toward women’s sport.

Advertiser response evolved just as quickly. From roughly 50 advertisers in its inaugural season, the league expanded to 70 brands across 45 categories by 2025.

It is against this backdrop of scale, category expansion, and strengthened advertiser confidence that WPL 2026 enters the buying season.

To decode the shifts, we spoke with industry voices across media, creative, and sports marketing. They outline a landscape of rising demand, smarter spending, and a league settling into a more predictable, and therefore more powerful, phase of growth.

The rate reset

WPL 2025’s viewership was always going to raise expectations, but experts believe the 2026 rate landscape is anchored in realism, not hype.

“Last year’s WPL viewership was a rocket launch. 100%+ jumps don’t repeat every season,” said Amyn Ghadiali, Country Head, Gozoop Creative. Instead, he argued that the league is entering a necessary and healthier pattern. “A 20-40% rate increase is realistic and healthy. It signals the league is maturing, not fading.”

Abhigyan Shekhar, Founder of Zupotsu, attributed the current demand to broader cricket momentum. “Given the tailwind of the T20 WC victory, there should be sustained interest, with a mid-to-high double-digit growth,” he noted. He pointed to early on-ground partner sign-ups as evidence of growing confidence.

That sentiment is also reflected in the new commercial partnerships locked in by the league. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has signed ₹48 crore worth of deals for the 2026 and 2027 editions of the Tata WPL. ChatGPT and Kingfisher Packaged Drinking Water have joined as Premier Partners for the next two seasons, Bisleri has come on board as the Beverage Partner, and CEAT has renewed its role as the Strategic Time-Out Partner.

The existing partners include TATA Group as the Title Partner, and Sintex and Hebalife as Premier Partners.

Broadcasters clearly share that optimism. According to Vaishal Dalal, Co-founder, Excellent Publicity, JioStar’s new rate card reflects strong positioning. “According to JioStar’s opening rate card for WPL 2026, the network is quoting approximately ₹50,000 for a 10-second TV spot on live matches, reflecting a significant increase from the previous season’s pricing,” he said. 

He added that CTV is being positioned as premium inventory at about ₹350 CPM, with mobile impressions priced in the ₹180–₹220 CPM range depending on targeting and formats, indicating the network’s confidence even as advertisers expect room for negotiation. He said, “These rates highlight JioStar’s confidence in WPL’s growing reach and rising viewership, even as advertisers anticipate some negotiation flexibility closer to the event.”

Together, the rate hikes, bullish broadcaster pricing, and deeper sponsor pool reflect a league that is increasingly securing its commercial footing.

Digital darwinism

While TV continues to hold prestige, the fiercest tournament is actually unfolding across digital screens.

Shekhar shared that the CPMs are at par with sports. “CTV is anyways in demand, and will have a higher fill rate,” he said.

Offering a view of audience behaviour, Ghadiali said “CTV has quietly become the premium battlefield; big screens, high-attention households, and completion rates mobile can only dream of.”

But he is equally clear that mobile cannot be sidelined.

“But mobile is still the engine of action, instant engagement, commerce, second-screen behaviour. The smartest advertisers use CTV to build stature and mobile to drive outcomes. WPL is one of those moments where a clever CTV + mobile split genuinely pays off.”

-Amyn Ghadiali

Dalal’s market read aligns with both. While CTV is being priced as the prestige buy at ₹350 CPM, mobile’s lower CPM and granular targeting ensure it remains indispensable. For brands, the choice isn’t CTV versus mobile, it’s the right ratio between the two.

Advertiser behaviour

Even with high interest, advertiser spending for WPL is rarely impulsive. 

Dalal said, “Most advertisers adopt a cautious, wait-and-watch approach for WPL buys, resulting in hard negotiations typically happening much closer to the tournament rather than months in advance.”

He noted that while early conversations do start well ahead of time, brands usually hesitate to lock budgets at initial quoted prices because of competing cricket properties and shifting market dynamics. 

“Advertisers usually prefer to finalise deals nearer to the event, sometimes even in the final weeks, once they have better clarity on packages, reach projections, and overall market conditions,” Dalal added.

Ghadiali believes the crowded men's cricket calendar adds temporary pressure but not structural risk.

He said, “Men’s cricket concentrates spend in the short term but doesn’t cannibalise long-term WPL budgets.”

He highlighted a shift where brands now carve dedicated budgets for women's sports, driven by audience differentiation and DE&I impact.

Early movers and category behaviour

According to Ghadiali, early investment in the WPL will continue to come from categories that chase scale and youth. “Early money will always come from categories that chase reach and youth quickly — FMCG, sportswear, gaming, BFSI, telcos. They don’t wait for perfection; they move when they see momentum,” he said.

He noted that premium autos, luxury, real estate and other high-ticket sectors are likely to hold back. Explaining the reason why, he said, “They only enter when an audience curve becomes stable, predictable, and upscale. WPL is almost there, but not fully.” 

Ghadiali expects more women-focused brands to get onboard. “Beauty, wellness, fashion, fem-tech — all of it. WPL is a natural playground for them.”

But he also pointed out that while women-centric brands add contextual strength, they won’t be the primary economic drivers.

“The economic horsepower will still come from mass FMCG, finance and telecom. Context pulls women-centric brands in; scale pulls everyone else. WPL sits at the intersection of both, which is why the brand mix is widening every season.”

-Amyn Ghadiali

WPL 2026 represents a pivotal transition, from breakout success to strategic stability. Rates are rising in line with real demand, advertisers are approaching the league with sharper planning, and digital platforms, especially CTV, are emerging as the central battleground for premium attention. 

While the Men’s IPL remains India’s media juggernaut, WPL has carved a distinct space defined by high engagement, youthful audiences, and rising commercial returns.

If 2025 was the year WPL proved its potential, 2026 might be the year it proves its staying power.