HUGE! Franchise rights to five WPL teams sold for $572 million, breaks record of IPL

In what comes as a watershed moment for the sport, BCCI on Wednesday informed the rights of the five franchises for the upcoming Women's Premier League (WPL) had been sold for a combined valuation of $572 million (Rs 4669.99 crore), breaking the record set during the inaugural edition of the men's IPL.

The closed-bid auction was held in Mumbai and the winners were identified after BCCI opened the sealed bids.

Adani Sportsline Pvt. Ltd topped the bidding chart for the Ahmedabad team by splurging over $158 million. Indiawin Sports Pvt. Ltd received the rights for the Mumbai franchise by shelling out $111 million.

Others included Bengaluru, sold to Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd. for $110 million, followed by Delhi - purchased by JSW GMR Cricket Pvt. Ltd. for $99.35.

Lastly, Capri Global Holdings Pvt. Ltd received rights to Lucknow by spending $92.85 million

𝐁𝐂𝐂𝐈 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞.

The combined bid valuation is INR 4669.99 Cr

A look at the Five franchises with ownership rights for #WPL pic.twitter.com/ryF7W1BvHH — BCCI (@BCCI) January 25, 2023

BCCI Secretary, Jay Shah saidthe bidding wars for the WPL broke the record set by the inaugural men's IPL in 2008.

Notably, theBCCI, back in 2008 had sold the rights for the eight original IPL teams for a collective sum of$387 million.

"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!" tweeted Shah.

"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#WPLwould bring necessary reforms in women's cricket and would ensure an all-encompassing ecosystem that benefits each and every stakeholder."

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! 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 — Jay Shah (@JayShah) January 25, 2023

Notably, last week, Viacom 18 won media rights for WIPL for a period of five years (2023-2027) for $116.7 million with per match value coming down to approximately $857,000.

Read more: BIG! Viacom 18 bags Women's IPL media rights for $116 million over a five-year period

Unlike IPL media rights, which were divided into different categories and awarded to different broadcasters, Viacom 18 will have access tolinear (TV), digital and combined (TV and digital).

It was in October last year that the BCCI, after years of dillydallying finally decided to greenlight the women's version of the IPL.

WPL will replace the Women’s T20 Challenge, which was a two-team tournament that started off in 2018 with just one match. It then grew to a three-team exhibition tournament in the following year, and then took place in 2020 and 2022 as well.

(With inputs from agencies)

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