The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has generated $572.7m through the award of five franchises for the inaugural T20 Women’s Premier League following a competitive tender process.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah said it was a “historic day in cricket”, pointing out that the bidding for teams was higher than the level of the first men’s T20 Indian Premier League in 2008.
Three existing IPL franchise owners – with teams in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore – were awarded a WPL franchise. The two other franchises went to the Adani Group – which paid $158m for the Ahmedabad franchise – and Capri Global Holdings – which paid $92.84 million for the franchise in Lucknow.
The BCCI has sold the media rights to the competition for the first five seasons to media group Viacom 18 for $117m. Shah said that the combined value of the media rights and franchises meant that the league would be “commercially independent and self-sustaining”.