17 Business Entities In India Placed Bids For Women’s IPL

Women’s IPL is causing a huge hype among the cricket fraternity and it is now only a day left before the official reveal of franchise names by the BCCI. India is a big player in cricket and there are many wealthy business entities in India that want to have the rights to the franchise because of the lucrative business Men’s IPL has provided over the years. Women’s IPL already got the historic media rights deal with Viacom 18 for 951 Crore for a period of 5 years. BCCI had announced that the 25th of January 2023 is the cut-off date for all interested parties to submit their closed bids.

Eligibility Criteria For Franchise Rights

While there was no base price set by the BCCI for Women’s IPL team rights but there is one major condition set which is to have an audited net worth of INR 1000 crore as of March 31, 2022, for all the business entities participating in the bidding process. This requirement set by the technical bid process committee makes sure that the business is well established and won’t be defaulted in coming years and have enough cash flows to pay the franchise rights fees to the BCCI.

Which IPL Franchises Submitted Bids?

All 10 IPL Franchises had purchased the tender document to submit their bids but only seven of them have submitted their bids in the closed envelope which will be opened on 25th January. The IPL franchises who participated in the bidding process are:

Mumbai Indians
Kolkata Knight Riders
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Rajasthan Royals
Punjab Kings
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Delhi Capitals

While Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Titans, and Lucknow Super Giants have decided to opt out of the bidding war at the final stages. BCCI had announced 10 different cities along with their home grounds which are up for grabs from which 5 will be finalized based on the highest bid order.

Which Other Business Groups Submitted Bids?

The buzz for the Women’s IPL is increasing every passing day which shows it is expected to become the largest Women’s league in the circuit from the very 1st inaugural edition of Women’s IPL. Due to increasing viewership demand and interest from more than a billion passionate cricket fans, many other popular leading business entities have submitted their bids to BCCI to earn franchise rights for WIPL. The entities other than IPL team owners are as follows.

Adani Group
Capri Global
Haldiram’s Group
Torrent Pharma
Apollo Pipes
Amrit Leela Enterprises
Shriram Group
Slingshot 369 Ventures Private Limited

It shows the competition for WIPL franchise rights is intense and it will be very interesting to see which business entity is lucky enough to have the WIPL team rights on board.

It is to keep noted that all the business entities are allowed to bid for more than one city which gives them more chances to have one franchise under their name. BCCI also told the media that they will also consider a franchise’s future goals related to the development of Women’s cricket before giving them the team rights.

Women’s IPL Auction Date

Once the franchises are officially confirmed then BCCI will announce a confirmed date for the inaugural auction of WIPL which is expected to be held in the first week of February. Each franchise will have an auction purse value of INR 12 Crore from which they will have a select squad of 15 to 18 players. A maximum of seven overseas players are to be allowed in each squad while in the playing 11 teams can select up to 5 overseas players including one from the associate teams.