WIPL bidding breaks IPL 2008 records; Adani owns Ahmedabad team with top bid of INR 1,289 cr
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is now Rs. 4699.99 crore wealthier. High-profile corporate organizations have expressed interest in purchasing the five teams up for grabs ever since the board announced its plan to start a T20 competition for women modelled after the Indian Premier League.
The BCCI was celebrating another significant pay day on Wednesday when the offers were made in Mumbai. Five teams from Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, and Lucknow will compete in the first Women’s Premier League (WPL first )’s season. The player auction will take place in February prior to the competition, which is scheduled for March.
The WPL has already brought in Rs 5,650.99 crore for the BCCI even before a ball has been played, and its broadcast right, which was purchased by Viacom for Rs 951 crore, makes it the second-highest T20 league, just behind the IPL. These numbers surpass those of the Big Bash League, The Hundred, or any other domestic T20 league.
The Adani Group made a massive offer of Rs. 1,289 crore for the Ahmedabad franchise. The Adani Sportsline Private Limited has officially entered the Indian cricket ecosystem after losing out on owning an IPL franchise when two additional teams were launched in 2022.
The IPL franchises that were eager to extend their roots into the women’s game made the subsequent three highest bids. While Lucknow Super Giants, Gujarat Titans, and Chennai Super Kings chose not to participate in the bidding, the other teams expressed interest and made an offer. Delhi Capitals (Rs 810 cr), Mumbai Indians (Rs 912 cr), and Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rs 901 cr) placed first among them and won a franchise. All three chose the same home base as their men’s squad.
Capri Global, which acquired the Lucknow franchise for Rs 757 crore, received the fifth franchise. Kolkata made a bid of Rs. 666 crore, which was much below the going rate. It is believed that the Rajasthan Royals placed the lowest proposal on the table, offering Rs 180 crore, or $1,109 crore less than Adani’s winning offer.
Even several BCCI members were surprised by the total amount of Rs 4,699.99 crore. Mumbai Indians was, in reality, the most expensive franchise when it was first offered for sale as an IPL franchise in 2007 at a cost of Rs 446 crore. It doesn’t even represent half of the top three WPL franchises.
“Today is a historic day in cricket because the initial WPL bids for clubs shattered the marks set by the first Men’s IPL in 2008! Congratulations to the winners! We received a total bid of Rs. 4669.9 billion. This is the start of a revolution in women’s cricket, and it lays the way for a revolutionary path for all athletes going forward. The WPL would create an all-encompassing ecosystem that benefits each and every stakeholder, as well as the required reforms in women’s cricket, according to BCCI secretary Jay Shah in a tweet.
The massive bids placed on the table, despite the fact that the WPL has yet to begin, show how corporate houses are grabbing hold of every opportunity to be involved with T20 tournaments. The leading corporation in India was sceptical about investing in the T20 format in 2008 when the BCCI first presented the idea of the IPL to them. And after 15 years, the surroundings have entirely changed.
In many aspects, the market for women’s sports in India is comparable to that of T20 cricket in 2008. But this time, there has been fierce rivalry because 30 or more people have expressed interest in buying the franchises. According to market researcher N Santhosh, who has been researching the IPL brand for years, “these statistics are completely unexpected.” “If you look at it, on average, each team receives 1,000 crores, which is a lot of money.
I’m positive that the WPL has benefited from brand IPL. It could be by itself. The amount of returns they generate, though, would be intriguing to examine, he added. According to the contract, for the first five years, the BCCI and the franchises will split revenues 20:80. The five franchises will receive Rs. 25–30 crores per season as a result of the Rs. 951 crore broadcast agreement, but they will still be required to pay the franchise fee to the BCCI.
Before teams like the Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, and Kolkata Knight Riders broke even sooner than anticipated, all the IPL franchises lost money in the first few years after the league’s launch. It is unclear how long it will take the new franchises to break even after investing such a big cash in the WPL, a market that the Indian public has not yet discovered.
“These figures are noticeably greater than those of the IPL. We are uncertain of the amount they will receive in return given the franchisee and the operating expenses. Santosh continued, “But this is more of an investment where the owners believe that being a part of a growing brand will provide them some return.
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