The BCCI recently invited bids to own franchises in the maiden Women’s IPL that is slated to kickstart in March and the response has been nothing short of overwhelming. With over five IPL franchises expressing interest in owning teams in the league, we can see the league off to an auspicious start in the background.
Franchises who have shown interest in Women’s IPL
Most notably, Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings have all expressed their interest in owing a team in the WIPL. Chennai Super Kings, the frontrunners have already purchased the ITT documents. CSK CEO Kashi Viswanathan in his chat with TOI was quoted saying, “We’ve applied to buy the bid document. Now we’ll have to find out about the economics of it. We are interested. If CSK doesn’t have a women’s team, it may not look good. We’d like to promote women’s cricket”. Joining the bandwagon, confirming the news of having secured the ITT documents, another franchise Rajasthan Royals’ chairman Ranjit Barthakur said, “We are picking the bid document”.
CSK CEO Kashi Viswanathan confirmed that they have applied to buy the bid document. #CricketTwitter #CSK pic.twitter.com/H3xDxLptak
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 6, 2023
The BCCI has not set a base price for buying a team and many investors feel this was a wise decision considering how a massive price could have warded away potential investors because this is the first season, one should be mindful. No investor would want to lose money and incurring heavy losses is certainly what they would like to be wary of.
Perhaps what has caused the positive response from the potential investors has to be the massive and strong responses from the crowds and spectators during the India versus Australia that witnessed over 45,000+ spectators which goes to show how women’s cricket is an untapped market. 2023 in itself is quite an exciting time to be a women’s cricket fan as there is the U-19 Women’s World Cup, the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and a lot of exciting bilateral and different tri-series that have already kept fans on their toes and presents the franchise owners a chance to gauge the players’ pool to select their stars from.
The media rights auction of the Women’s IPL has been postponed by four days and it will now be conducted on January 16#CricketTwitter | Source: CricBuzz pic.twitter.com/9BW4WyRtoc
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 6, 2023
With the clock ticking on the WIPL, positive developments like this are wonderful to see and it is highly likely that the league will happen in March and go on till the end of the month concluding right before the men’s IPL. There are around 5 to 6 teams in the fray who will feature in the league and reports have also suggested that Maharashtra is the likely venue for the WIPL.
More to follow!
I am a first year postgraduate student pursuing a MA in Media and Communication Studies at Christ University, Bengaluru. I am a podcaster, blogger and an avid cricket fan. When not glued to cricket matches, you can find me submerged in books and thinking about cricket all the time.