The International Cricket Council (ICC) has invited agencies to pitch for the marketing and public relations mandate for the inaugural ICC Women’s Champions Trophy 2027. The brief covers the tournament’s strategic positioning, creative platform and integrated campaign across multiple channels.
The competition will take place from February 14 to 28, 2027, at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai and the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium. It will feature six teams: Australia, England, India, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
The 15-day tournament will follow a T20 format and comprise 16 matches. The top two teams from the round-robin league will advance to the final on February 28. Qualification was determined by the ICC Women’s T20I Team Rankings as of July 6, 2026.
ICC outlines an integrated marketing and PR mandate
According to the request for proposals (RFP), the appointed agency will develop the tournament’s strategic and creative platform and deliver an integrated marketing and PR campaign.
The scope includes brand positioning, campaign narrative, creative development, public relations, digital and social content, experiential initiatives, community engagement and campaign measurement. The agency will also be responsible for optimisation throughout the campaign.
In addition, the ICC wants to build tournament narratives around players, teams and the competition itself. The brief calls for collaboration with creators, influencers, ambassadors and other talent. It also includes outreach to non-traditional media and the development of earned-media opportunities.
Female fan engagement emerges as a key opportunity
The RFP identifies female fan acquisition and engagement as an area for growth. According to the ICC’s fan data, its digital audience remains male-skewed.
Within its wider fan database, the 25–34 age group is the largest known segment, followed by those aged 35–44. T20 is also the most-selected format preference in the ICC fan data warehouse.
Data from the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 provides further context. Across the web and app platforms in the subcontinent markets covered by the data, men accounted for 87% of web users and 80% of app users. Women represented 12% of web users and 20% of app users.
The audience profile for that event also differed by age. Users aged 18–24 formed the largest segment, accounting for 45% of web users and 52% of app users.
The RFP also draws on learnings from previous ICC T20 events. It notes that player-led narratives have generally generated more search, video and social engagement than generic tournament messaging. Multilingual content is another opportunity identified in the brief to extend reach beyond traditional audiences.
Three activations anchor the tournament brief
The ICC has outlined three key activations for the appointed agency to develop and execute.
1. Match schedule and ticket sales launch
The first activation is scheduled for December 2, 2026, and will mark the launch of the match schedule and general ticket sales.
The agency will be expected to develop an event involving talent from participating teams, cricket legends and content creators. The event is expected to be telecast live by JioStar.
2. Trophy Tour across host cities
A Trophy Tour is scheduled to begin on January 15, 2027, across the host cities.
The agency’s responsibilities will include proposing the itinerary, locations, creative concept and audience engagement opportunities. The brief also covers PR, media, digital, social, content and community activation plans for the tour.
3. Captains’ Carnival and Media Day
The third activation is a Captains’ Carnival/Media Day, planned for February 12 or 13, shortly before the tournament begins.
The event will bring together the six participating captains for media access, tournament storytelling and the creation of editorial and social content ahead of the competition.
ICC Business Corporation to evaluate agency proposals
The ICC Business Corporation (IBC), a wholly owned subsidiary of the ICC, will oversee the evaluation process. Proposals will be assessed through technical and financial evaluations, alongside reviews of applicants’ suitability, experience, qualifications and proposed organisational structure.
The RFP also allows IBC to appoint separate applicants for different elements of the mandate. This means the full scope of services does not necessarily have to be awarded to a single agency.
The RFP was published on October 21, 2026. Agencies must submit their proposals by 5 pm Gulf Standard Time on November 4. Shortlisting is scheduled for November 6, with presentations, if required, planned for November 10. The final selection is scheduled for November 11.
