Cricket Namibia-Women’s CricZone ink five-year broadcast deal

Women’s CricZone, a portal dedicated to the coverage of women’s cricket across the globe, have entered into a five-year broadcast partnership, making Women’s CricZone the official streaming platform for all international matches – excluding ICC tournaments – of the Namibia women’s cricket team played at home. All matches will be streamed live on Women’s CricZone’s YouTube and Facebook channels.

In addition to the streaming of matches, all team-related video packages including highlights, top moments, a peek into the team’s training sessions, etc will also be provided by the portal.

Keen to make the game more visible both within the country and around the rest of the world, Cricket Namibia Chief Executive Officer Johan Müller, stated the decision to partner with Women’s CricZone was an easy one.

“From our first engagement with Women’s CricZone it was clear that we shared the same vision. Both entities wanted exposure for women’s cricket in order to ensure the growth of the game is enhanced and accelerated. Women’s CricZone is already an established brand and has surpassed their competitors through their clear strategic vision and focus.”

“Both entities have a long-term approach to this partnership. We believe that this five-year period will allow us to establish, implement and sustain the rightful place for female cricketers. We want to thank and compliment Yash Lahoti, CEO of Women’s CricZone for his vision to elevate women’s cricket,” he said.

In June this year, Namibia participated in the five-team Kwibuka T20 tournament in Rwanda. Irene van Zyl’s side bossed their way through the league stage before stumbling at the final hurdle against Kenya. Over 1.4 million viewers watched the likes of Sune Wittmann, Yasmeen Khan, Victoria Hamunyela, Adri van der Merwe and Kayleen Green weave their magic in front of a live audience.

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“Awareness of the game is critical to create interest, especially in a widely dispersed geographic population. When communities are able to view women’s cricket, they are more likely to allow and motivate cricket development programmes to take place within their community. This created massive opportunities for us to grow the game”, Müller further said.

On the back of another landmark deal, founder and CEO of Women’s CricZone, Yash Lahoti reiterated the organisation’s commitment to raising the quantity and quality of the coverage of women’s cricket across the globe.

“Beyond the top 10 teams in the world, there is little information or coverage of the less established countries. There is no doubt that visibility and accessibility are key factors that motivate young girls and boys to take up a sport. Through several conversations with Johan Müller, it was clear that our visions aligned.”

“Namibia is a fast-improving cricketing nation with several very skilled players in their ranks. For Women’s CricZone, this is a very exciting time to be so closely involved in their growth.”

This is the third broadcast deal Women’s CricZone have signed in the last quarter, having previously signed five-year deals with Rwanda Cricket Association and Cricket Argentina. They made their first foray into the world of live streaming with the successful coverage of the five-nation Kwibuka T20 tournament in Kigali in June this year.