Rebel re-signs with Women's Big Bash League

 The Women's Big Bash League has re-signed Rebel as a naming rights partner ahead of the competition's second season, beginning December 10 at North Sydney Oval.

Cricket Australia announced Rebel, who came aboard for the inaugural season of the WBBL last summer, as having re-signed for a further two seasons following the huge success of the first tournament.

WBBL|01 saw more than 70,000 people attend broadcast matches and an average TV audience of 231,000, revealing a strong interest in women's cricket amongst the Australian public.

"It was fantastic to work with Rebel on the successful first season of the Rebel WBBL and we are very pleased that they have elected to come back on board for the next two seasons," said Cricket Australia Head of Big Bash, Anthony Everard.

"Rebel have really embraced the major purpose of the WBBL, to inspire girls to play cricket, and it will be exciting to work with Rebel across the next two seasons as we look to grow the competition and women's cricket, and to be a leader in women's sport in Australia."

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Rebel's Managing Director, Erica Berchtold, echoed the commitment to the rebel WBBL and female cricket in general. 

"Rebel is fully committed to taking a strong leadership position in championing female sports participation," Berchtold said.

"The Rebel WBBL provides an outstanding platform to reinforce and showcase this commitment

"The players are fantastic role models and the increasing exposure of the competition will encourage more young girls to pick up a bat and ball and enjoy playing."

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The Rebel WBBL|02 will open with a free carnival weekend at North Sydney Oval on the weekend of December 10-11, with all eight clubs in attendance and six matches taking place over the two days.

Four of these matches will be broadcast live on Network Ten, including a prime time match between Sydney Thunder and Melbourne Stars on the Saturday night.

The season, comprised of 59 matches in 50 days, will include 12 matches broadcast by TEN as well as 14 double-headers with the KFC Big Bash League.

Fast Facts

• Australia's leading female cricketers representing the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars are now the best paid of any women's team sport in the country, with many able to earn in excess of $100,000 a year

• Over the last 12 months, CA has almost doubled its commitment to Australia's elite female cricketers from $2.36 million to $4.23 million

• Australia's best domestic female cricketers (playing WNCL and WBBL) will now earn $26,000 a season

• The recently announced $1m per annum 'Growing Cricket for Girls' fund will provide investment into grassroots cricket to create safe, fun and friendly cricket environments for females

• Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars are ranked number 1 in the World (ICC Women's rankings) and are the current holders of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup

• 314,936 females participated in cricket in Australia in 2015-16, representing 24 per cent of all cricket participants.

• The ten broadcast matches during the first season of the Rebel Women's Big Bash League on TEN and ONE had an average television audience of 231,000, while over 70,000 people attended the broadcast matches of the competition

• A women's national cricket competition has existed in Australia since 1930-31