From Sydney to Berlin: The Rise of Women's Basketball on the Global Stage

The move from Australia to Germany highlights the growing scale of the competition, both in the number of participants and the reach of its media and commercial coverage.

The key figure for the upcoming World Cup 2026 is the number of participants. Following a 12-team tournament in 2022, FIBA is officially expanding the event to 16 national teams, marking its largest lineup yet and returning to the format used from 1990 through 2018.

For Germany, it also brings elite women's international basketball back after nearly three decades. The country will host the World Cup for the second time, following the 1998 tournament. Yet the significance of Berlin 2026 extends beyond the competition itself: the upcoming tournament will inevitably be measured against the high standard set by the previous edition.

Sydney effect: numbers that changed everything

To understand why expectations for Berlin are so high, it helps to look back four years. The World Cup 2022 in Sydney became a landmark event for women’s basketball, demonstrating just how large its global audience had become.

Total attendance in Australia reached 145,000, a record for the Women's World Cup, and the final match between China and the U.S. drew a sold-out crowd of more than 15,000 fans.

The numbers beyond the arena were just as impressive. In China, coverage on CCTV and Tencent reached a combined audience of more than 750 million. The final alone drew over 18 million viewers on CCTV-5, with another 23 million tuning in via Tencent.

Digital audiences also grew significantly. The tournament’s official website attracted 1.5 million users, while social media generated around 1.1 billion impressions and 14 million interactions. Video content drew roughly 500 million views, seven times more than in the previous cycle.

These numbers matter beyond a single event in Sydney. They show that interest in women's basketball continues to grow across venues, television, and digital platforms.

From record audiences to market-wide growth

Basketball’s recent momentum is also reflected in the broader women’s sports economy. Total revenue for elite women’s sports is predicted to reach at least $2.35 billion by 2026.

Within this landscape, women's basketball has made a major leap forward, becoming the world's highest-earning women's sport, with estimated revenue of $1.03 billion compared to $820 million for second-place football. For comparison, women's basketball generated an estimated $710 million in 2024, meaning revenue was projected to grow by more than 40% in just one year.

Commercial deals, broadcast rights, and matchday revenue remain the main sources of income – all three closely tied to expanding audiences and growing commercial interest in women’s competitions.

For major brands, involvement in such projects increasingly represents a long-term investment in a growing sports audience. The partnership between 1xBet and FIBA marks a new step in the industry’s development, where sports, content, and commercial platforms are gradually becoming part of a single global ecosystem.

Berlin is next stop

The upcoming World Cup isn't starting from scratch. It already has the legacy of Sydney 2022 behind it, with record attendance and billion-plus audience figures, alongside a growing fan base and a women's sports market that continues to expand.

The increasing media appeal of such a tournament unlocks new B2B opportunities through affiliate programs like 1xPartners, which delivers effective tools for traffic monetization.

Sixteen national teams, the 20th edition, and a return to Germany after nearly three decades already give Berlin 2026 significant weight. The event will show just how high women's sports can set the bar in this new cycle.