The ECB’s new competition attracted the second most new viewers of any women’s sport, and the most in terms of hours watched

The Hundred was vital in attracting millions of new viewers to women’s sport last year, a study by the Women’s Sport Trust has found.

The results of the WST’s annual visibility survey show that The Hundred played a key part in women’s sport bringing in almost 11million new viewer across all sports in 2021, a third of total viewing figures for women’s sport (32.9m).

The ECB’s new competition – a franchise-style short-format tournament, aligned with the men’s version and played at eight major urban venues, with several matches on free-to-air television – attracted 4.9m new viewers, the second most of any event in a record-breaking year.

England white-ball internationals being screened by the BBC also played a role in cricket’s impactful 2021.

WST chief executive Tammy Parlour said: “Domestic competitions such as The Hundred and the Women’s Super League are the perfect gateway to viewing more women’s sport.

^{Women’s cricket brought in 4.9million new viewers in 2021}

“I look forward to seeing the impact other major international events this year will have on future viewing figures.”

Three and a half million Women’s Hundred viewers went on to watch other women’s sports, while 45 per cent watched more than one Women’s Hundred match.

And although football brought in 5.9m new viewers, cricket was the most watched women’s sport, accounting for 41 per cent of viewing hours.

Notably, 25 per cent of Women’s Hundred and England women’s cricket viewers did not watch any men’s cricket as viewing figures for women’s sport continued to rise.

However, viewing habits still need to be addressed within women’s sport, as the percentage of viewers watching on more than one occasion still lags behind men’s sport.