The first of the televised daytime matches, between Adelaide Strikers and Brisbane Heat on Saturday, drew an average national audience of 250,000 on Ten's One HD while the second, between Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers at the SCG on Sunday, had a national average of 183,000.
In contrast the free-to-air ratings of summer competitor the A-League have been hurt badly by the shift from SBS's main channel to SBS2. The football code is averaging only 78,000 for their Friday night games on the public broadcaster and 62,000 per game on Fox Sports, with the demotion to SBS2 costing them about 110,000 viewers a week.
It is understood that the WBBL ratings are well in excess of internal projections, which were believed to be as low as as an average of 40,000 per game.