The long-awaited Women's Indian Premier League (WIPL) that is all set to begin this year is making a buzz among cricketers and fans who are eager to know when and where to catch all the live action of the new league.
As all eyes are on the upcoming new sports league, which many are calling a game changer for women's cricket globally, Moneycontrol takes a look at the nitty-gritties of WIPL.
It was in October last year when the general body of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) approved the conduct of a separate league-format T20 tournament for women cricketers, the Women’s Indian Premier League (WIPL).
On December 9, the BCCI invited bids for media rights tender for WIPL seasons 2023-2027.
In January this year, the cricket board also invited bids to own and operate a team in the WIPL.
When will the league kick off, and where?
The inaugural season of WIPL is expected to held from March 3 to 26, 2023, before the beginning of men's IPL, which is likely to start from the first week of April.
BCCI had originally submitted two plans to host WIPL. While one was to pick a city from each of the six zones (North, East, West, South, Central and North East) to hold the matches, the other was to hold the tournament at current IPL venues.
Now, the Board, in its tender, has shortlisted 10 cities, along with the venues and the capacities of the stadiums, where the matches can be held.
The cities and stadiums with their capacities are as follows: Ahmedabad (Narendra Modi stadium, capacity 112,560), Kolkata (Eden Gardens, 65,000), Chennai (MA Chidambaram stadium, 50,000), Bangalore (M Chinnaswamy stadium, 42,000), Delhi (Arun Jaitley stadium, 55,000), Dharamsala (HPCA stadium, 20,900), Guwahati (Barsapara Stadium, 38,650), Indore (Holkar stadium, 26,900), Lucknow (AB Vajpayee Ekana cricket stadium, 48,800) and Mumbai (Wankhede / DY Patil / Brabourne Stadiums).
How many matches and teams will WIPL consist of?
The league will have five franchise-based teams that will play a total of 22 matches. The league will be played for a duration of 25 days. Each team will have a maximum of 18 players in the squad, including six foreign players. Each team will play each other twice and the top team in the league will directly qualify for the final. The other finalist will be decided by an eliminator match between the second- and third-placed teams.
Who are bidding for WIPL franchise, and how much will it cost to own a team?
Five of the men's IPL franchise owners have shown interest in owning a WIPL team. These include Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, and Delhi Capitals. BCCI officials have said that all 10 IPL franchises have either purchased the tender document to own a WIPL team or sent an official request to buy one for a WIPL team.
Dabur India Chairman Mohit Burman, in an interview, said that Punjab Kings is interested in acquiring a franchise for WIPL. Burman has a 48 percent stake in KPH Dream Cricket Pvt Ltd, the owner of the Punjab Kings franchise. Similarly, Rajasthan Royal's lead owner Manoj Badale said that they aim to secure a WIPL team. However, franchises are currently seeking clarity on the base price of the WIPL teams. It is estimated that the base price of bids will be Rs 400 crore for each franchise.
Franchises like Punjab Kings are awaiting media rights auction of WIPL, which will help the team owners to understand the money required to own a WIPL team. The cricket Board will auction teams on the conclusion of the media rights auction that will be held on January 16.
Who are bidding for WIPL media rights, and how much can the rights attract?
The media rights of WIPL has received bids from 10 media companies, according to reports. Interested parties include Disney Star, Sony Network, Viacom18 along with Amazon Prime, Fancode, Times Internet, and Google. The media rights of WIPL are expected to attract bids worth Rs 220-250 crore per year, with BCCI estimated to earn around Rs 1,250 crore for the five-year period. The media rights auction will be a closed-door process.
How much will BCCI earn from the new league?
BCCI is expecting to earn over Rs 1,000 crore from the sale of each franchise with the total value estimated to be in the range of Rs 6,000-8,000 crore.
How will players for WIPL be auctioned?
Player auction for the WIPL will be held in February and Indian players have been asked to register by January 26. Players will be categorised as capped and uncapped. Capped players will come with three base prices ― Rs 50 lakh, Rs 40 lakh and Rs 30 lakh. For uncapped players, two base prices have been set at Rs 20 lakh and Rs 10 lakh. The five yet-to-be-decided franchise will produce an auction list which will be put up for bidding. Players who are not chosen at the auction but are in the registered player pool will get another opportunity to be chosen as replacement players.
Each franchise is expected to have a player purse of Rs 35-40 crore.
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