WPL franchise will starting inching towards break-even in the next cycle, says Delhi Capitals CEO

The Delhi Capitals table at the Women's Premier League auction.

Delhi Capitals, which has extended its brand to bring under its umbrella a Women’s Premier League (WPL) team, is testing the waters with the new franchise but remains confident about its future growth.

This year is all about rolling out the WPL franchise, said Dhiraj Malhotra, Chief Executive Officer of Delhi Capitals.

“First year, the sponsors are conservative because they have to see the product to start believing in it. And then to sell it will be easier going forward and to get what we demand in terms of pricing,” Malhotra told Moneycontrol.

WPL’s first season will begin from March 4 and the final will be played on March 26.

Buzz among brands 

The franchise has reached its target in terms of sponsorship, Malhotra added.

"We have closed all our sponsorship deals. We have 7 spots on the uniform which includes jersey and helmet. Now, we are closing the official partners (for the team). There is a lot of buzz in the market and many brands have come in along with one or two women-specific brands,” he said.

“With IPL (Indian Premier League) there are the same 50 brands, but WPL has opened up new dimensions. Brands that are trying to leverage women’s sports have come in. We got a women's clothes brand and a women's hair products company,” he added.

To be sure, WPL is in a nascent stage.

“Sponsorship revenue for the first season for WPL is not at par but slightly lower than the men’s IPL when compared to Season 1. But men’s IPL sponsorship revenue has been going up every year and we expect the same for WPL. This year, there is zero ticket revenue (all WPL matches will be held in Mumbai). Going forward, from next year, it will be home and away format and then it will become easier as there will be ticketing and merchandising revenue. Once you build the brand there is more revenue coming in from different avenues,” said Malhotra.

Breaking even 

While Malhotra expects the WPL franchise to be sustainable on its own, he said the team may break even only in the second cycle. Starting from 2023, the first cycle of the league ends in 2027.

“I think it is fair to say in the second cycle we may break even. We know the revenue for the first 5 years. If we do not break even, our losses will go lower and the team will start inching towards green. It will all depend on the second cycle and how the title sponsorship, OTT (Over The Top platform) and broadcast rights go. If you look at men's IPL, the title sponsorship value was Rs 200 crore in 2008 which went up to Rs 440 crore. This is what we are expecting for women’s IPL as well,” he said.

The WPL media rights were bought by Viacom18 for the 2023-2027 cycle with the deal being valued at Rs 951 crore.

Men’s IPL 

The Delhi Capitals CEO noted that the recent media rights bid for men's IPL has resulted in massive growth in revenue for the team.

The record-breaking bidding for media rights that concluded on June 14 last year fetched the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Rs 48,390 crore.

The revenue coming from the media rights auction helped Delhi Capitals to get the WPL franchise, he said. “We have a healthy, robust IPL system. A few years down the line, I see WPL being totally independent and generating its own profit. But today, the revenue coming from media rights, central pool and own sponsorships let us enter WPL. In the last 4 years, our own sponsorship has more than doubled. And there is more revenue coming in via content, NFT (non-fungible tokens) and we see this seeping into WPL.”

Sponsorship revenue for the men’s IPL team has gone up by 50 percent from last year. “We have JSW in the front and DP World at the back and most of the sponsors have come back,” Malhotra added.

On IPL’s overall revenue growth, Malhotra said he expects a double-digit increase year-on-year. “Ticketing revenue will be big (from this year). While we haven't started ticket sales, the kind of enquiries we are getting, we expect a two-fold increase in ticket sales since the last time matches were held in Delhi. The last match in Delhi was in 2019. For three years we had no IPL in Delhi,” he said.

Building two brands 

The CEO said Delhi Capitals will focus on building two separate brands for IPL and WPL.

“WPL will take women’s cricket to next level. With IPL, players train with international coaches and every player’s game goes up. This is what will happen with women's cricket as well. Our girls are playing in Big Bash League (Australian cricket league) and then this (WPL) league is coming in. I see the performance changing and see more competition as well. Viewership has gone up (for women's cricket) because every match is being telecast as there is a consumer,” Malhotra said.