Cricket Australia announced retailer Rebel extended its naming rights sponsorship of the Women's Big Bash League for a further three years. Rebel will remain the naming rights partner of the WBBL through WBBL|06. It has been the WBBL's naming rights partner since the first season of the competition. Rebel and CA will continue to work together to champion current WBBL players and inspire more women and girls to play cricket. The retailer and CA will also continue to develop the Rebel Young Gun Award, which seeks to support and promote up and coming talent within the WBBL. The second season of the Rebel WBBL attracted more than 121,000 fans to matches, and an average of 239,000 people per match tuned in to coverage on Network Ten. CA's live stream of all non-televised matches attracted 1.5 million fans over the course of the season (CA). The AAP reported CA Head of Big Bash Kim McConnie said that it would "be easy for the competition to keep developing momentum" as it was only in its third year and "had room for growth." McConnie said, "We've got all the ingredients to make this the best and biggest women’s sport in the world." Admission to standalone WBBL games will be free, though there will be several doubleheaders with the men’s BBL. There will be 12 games broadcast on Network Ten and the other 47 will be livestreamed through the Mamamia website (AAP, 12/8).
