BCCI announces successful bidders for Women's Premier League; combined valuation higher than men's IPL in 2008
The BCCI has fetched in a whopping sum of INR 4,669.99 crores from successful bidders for the five franchises for the newly launched Women's Premier League (WPL), which is what the tournament will formally be called.
The board has confirmed the bidders for the competition slated for its inaugural edition in March, with the Adani Group leading the pack by purchasing a team based in Ahmedabad for a sum of INR 1,289 crores.
Indiawin Sports Pvt Ltd is at second in the list of highest successful bids, owning a team in Mumbai for INR 912.99 crores. Following them in the five-team pack are Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd in Bangalore for 901 crores, JSW GMR Cricket Pvt Ltd for a team based in Delhi at 810 crores and Capri Global Holdings Pvt Ltd for a team based in Lucknow at 757 crores.
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐งโ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐๐ซ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐.
โ BCCI (@BCCI) January 25, 2023
The combined bid valuation is INR 4669.99 Cr
A look at the Five franchises with ownership rights for #WPL pic.twitter.com/ryF7W1BvHH
The total money that the BCCI has filled its coffers with after the team auction for the much-awaited WPL is higher than the collective sum it sold the men's Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises for back in its infancy in 2008, said the board secretary Jay Shah, who stood jubilant about the occasion.
Sell of WPL franchises a 'historic day in cricket' - Jay Shah
Shah called it a "historical" relevance for cricket in India and across the world, with the board announcing a sum that crosses well over INR 4,500 crores in selling the five franchises for the forthcoming WPL, which is notably a shift from the originally coined WIPL - Women's Indian Premier League.
"Today is a historic day in cricket as the bidding for teams of inaugural #WPL broke the records of the inaugural Men's IPL in 2008!" Shah tweeted. "Congratulations to the winners as we garnered Rs.4669.99 Cr in total bid."
"This marks the beginning of a revolution in women's cricket and paves the way for a transformative journey ahead not only for our women cricketers but for the entire sports fraternity."
"The #WPL would bring necessary reforms in women's cricket and would ensure an all-encompassing ecosystem that benefits each and every stakeholder," he added.
Either way, the tournament is expected to be of pathbreaking relevance to women's cricket in India, backed by leading corporate giants in the cricketing scene, including established IPL franchises in Mumbai Indians (MI), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Delhi Capitals (DC).
This is the second major announcement in relation to the WPL, which has already got a leading broadcaster backing its initial footsteps in the T20 market. The BCCI recently confirmed the media rights deal of INR 951 crores with Viacom18 for the first five seasons of the competition spanning 2023 to 2027.