Win of the century

The GIST: On Sunday, India won the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup for the first time ever, doing it on their home turf in front of more than 40K fans. It’s a transformative moment for women’s cricket in the country, which, despite its storied legacy on the men’s side, is just building up its women’s fandom thanks to recent domestic investment and increased exposure.

• By disrupting the dominance of England and Australia in global women’s cricket, India’s win has implications in South Asia and abroad, building hype for women’s cricket domestically and throughout an active, engaged South Asian diaspora. Paisa vasool.

The American diaspora: About 13% of Americans consider themselves cricket fans, notably fueled by the country’s surging South Asian population, over 75% of which were born outside the U.S. In 2022, the Collage Group found only 5% of Americans followed or played cricket — but 79% of foreign-born Indian-Americans did, as well as 47% of U.S. born Indian-Americans.

• This fervent fandom is bringing global cricket here: Last year, a men’s India–Pakistan match in NYC drew 34K fans and 400M viewers worldwide, a promising sign as the U.S. prepares to host Olympic T20 cricket for the first time at LA28 (although the American teams might not even qualify).

The Canadian diaspora: Up north, South Asians represent 33% of cricket fans yet comprise only 11% of the general population. Similar to the U.S., those born outside Canada bring their fandom with them: Engagement among foreign-born Canadians is 29% compared to 16% for those born in Canada.

• Canada’s South Asian fandom has been credited for driving engagement and partnerships for Cricket Canada, and the high engagement benefits the women’s national team as well, which attracts 59% of Canada’s cricket audience.

Zooming out: Though cricket has historically been associated with Commonwealth countries, the sport is spreading beyond these borders due to worldwide immigration patterns amid the sport’s global growth. This matters as the U.S. and Canada become more invested in cricket: In fact, high-profile Indian businessmen have helped fund Major League Cricket in the U.S.

• Growing women’s cricket in India is important too as it inspires a following among South Asian fans in North America — and sponsors should be paying attention. According to Nielsen, 37% of AANHPI sports viewers want more culturally relevant advertising during games, so appealing to South Asian cricket fans is a clever approach.

The GIST: Caitlin Clark has turned millions into Iowa and Indiana Fever fans, but we’re just beginning to see Clark’s lasting impact on her alma mater. Two years on, Iowa has retained much of that fanbase as it continues to sell out games and afford players celebrity status, per The Athletic.

• We’ve previously seen this in men’s sports, but it’s a relatively new phenomenon in the women’s game. Let’s explore the long-term effect of rostering Clark and other top NCAA athletes, especially as these athletes draw powerhouse sponsors to the college sphere. Class is in session.

The Clark effect: The Athletic reported that Iowa women’s basketball has already sold out all home games for the third consecutive season, noting those who became fans during Clark’s tenure — many of whom were young girls — have stayed and remained passionate.

• In fact, the school’s most-followed college athletes across Instagram and TikTok are current women’s basketball players. Its women’s hoops team has more Instagram followers (291K) than its football team (247K) or men’s basketball team (102K), and it ranks far beyond the second most-followed Big 10 women’s basketball team: Michigan at 47K.

The sponsors: Many sponsors that activated with Clark at Iowa have followed her into the WNBA, including Gatorade, State Farm, and Nike. But certain companies came in during Clark’s collegiate tenure and partnered more widely with Iowa’s program and players. In 2023, Papa John’s worked with the school’s NIL collective, while USCellular signed Clark’s teammate, Gabbie Marshall.

• Some brands stayed beyond Clark, like the team’s presenting sponsor, University of Iowa Energy Collaborative. After signing on as a partner during Clark’s historic senior season, the collaborative benefitted from in-venue signage and social media promotion through the 2024 season.

Zooming out: Yes, a transformative star like Clark is going to recruit fans, and teams will retain them after she’s gone — we’ve seen it with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls and Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. But what differs with women’s sports in the modern era is how young fans are following, which is largely measured by social media engagement.

• While Instagram skews older than TikTok, Gen Z and Gen Alpha fans are highly engaged with both platforms, and as Iowa demonstrates, they’ll likely keep following teams even after big-name athletes leave. Marketers looking to win over these fans should team up with women’s basketball teams, who clearly have clout with the next generation. Right at home.

🛑 Stop your scroll — have you locked in your picks for our 2025 NWSL Playoff Bracket Challenge? The postseason starts on Friday (!!!), and we’re closing our bracket submissions just before the first game kicks off. Tick, tock.

• Whether you’re a footy superfan who’s fine-tuning all three of their entries or a soccer newbie who’s choosing based on mascot vibes, this bracket challenge is for you.

• Enter to win some sweet prizes, chase eternal bragging rights, and (most importantly) join a community of thousands of GISTers who are upping the ante for these playoffs. Your picks are due Friday at 12 p.m. ET — see you on the leaderboard.