With a massive four-fold increase in prize money for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025, whoever gets crowned the female champions of the upcoming 50 over event at the possibly Colombo / Navi Mumbai final will now earn more than what Pat Cummins’ Australia took home from Ahmedabad in 2023.
The International Cricket Council, in a media release announced that the champions will receive $4.48 million, “a massive 239 per cent increase from the $1.32 million awarded to Australia when they won their seventh title three years ago. The winners’ purse at the last Men’s World Cup was $4 million.”
The staggering prize rise for the tournament running September 30 to November 2, will see the overall prize money at the eight-team tournament amount to $13.88 million, which is a rise of 297 per cent from the $3.5 million at the last edition held in New Zealand in 2022.
The total prize pot eclipses the prize money at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, which had total prize money of $10 million, as per the ICC release.
The grand 13th will be held across five venues – Guwahati, Indore, Navi Mumbai and Visakhapatnam in India and Colombo in Sri Lanka. The release said, “The increased prize money aligns with the ICC’s strategy to focus on the growth of the women’s game and a decision to introduce pay parity which was announced ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.”
The ICC has ofcourse gone past pay parity in a stunning decision. ICC Chairman Mr. Jay Shah said this was another step in the right direction as the world body prioritizes women’s cricket.
“This announcement marks a defining milestone in the journey of women’s cricket. This four-fold increase in prize money is a landmark moment for women’s cricket and reflects our clear commitment to its long-term growth. Our message is simple, women cricketers must know they will be treated on par with men if they choose this sport professionally.The uplift underscores our ambition to deliver a world-class ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup and to inspire the next generation of players and fans. Women’s cricket is on a remarkable upward trajectory, and with this step we are confident the momentum will accelerate. We call upon all stakeholders, fans, media, partners, and Member Boards, to join us in championing the women’s game and ensuring it receives the recognition and respect it deserves,” Shah said.
Story continues below this ad
The staggering raise trickles down to every stage of the tournament not just winners. So the runners-up will receive $2.24 million, an increase of 273 per cent in comparison to the $600,000 England received for reaching the final at the Hagley Oval while the two losing semi-finalists will take home $1.12 million (up from $300,000 in 2022) each. Each group-stage win will get the victors $34,314. The teams finishing fifth and sixth will take home $700,000 each and those in seventh and eighth place will earn $280,000. Each participating team is guaranteed $250,000, the release explained.
The Indian team is led by Harmanpreet Kaur and has stars like Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Radha Yadav, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana and Richa Ghosh. Amol Muzumdar is coach.
