Women’s Premier League (WPL) Five Teams Announced
Women’s Premier League today created another history in the Women’s cricket circuit with a record sum of INR 4669.99 crore (USD 572.78 million approx) which BCCI got today after opening the bids submitted by 17 different business entities of India in sealed envelopes. Just a few weeks ago, BCCI also created history by selling five-year media rights to Viacom 18 for INR 951 crore (USD 116.7 million approx.) for the period – 2023 to 2027. It was predicted by many financial & cricket experts in India to have a record bid for both team and media rights which proved to be absolutely true.
𝐁𝐂𝐂𝐈 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞.
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 25, 2023
The combined bid valuation is INR 4669.99 Cr
A look at the Five franchises with ownership rights for #WPL pic.twitter.com/ryF7W1BvHH
WPL Franchises Team Owners By City
The WPL team auction was held in Mumbai today where the winners were identified after opening the sealed bids which created a lot of anticipation over the last 2 weeks when cricket fans came to know many IPL Men’s team owners have also submitted their bids. Ahmedabad became the most expensive WPL franchise at a cost of INR 1289 crore (USD 158 million approx) while Mumbai became the 2nd most expensive franchise at a cost of (INR 912.99 crore/USD 111 million approx). All five WPL successful bids are as follows.
| Team Owner | Team City | Successful Bid Amount |
| Adani Sportsline Pvt Ltd | Ahmedabad | 1289 Crore |
| Indiawin Sports Pvt Ltd | Mumbai | 912.99 Crore |
| Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd | Bengaluru | 901 Crore |
| JSW GMR Cricket Pvt Ltd | Delhi | 810 Crore |
| Capri Global Holdings Pvt Ltd | Lucknow | 757 Crore |
As expected, three of the five WPL franchises have gone to teams owners of Men’s IPL teams which are Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore while Adani Group and Capri Global are the new entrants to owning a premium league cricket team in India.
Tournament Names & Cities
It has been officially confirmed that the tournament will now be called Women’s Premier League (WPL) and five teams for the first three years of WPL will be based in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, and Lucknow respectively.
How Team Owners Will Make Money
Owning a franchise in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) is going to be highly lucrative because of the fact that BCCI is going to share 80% of the media rights money in the first five years as well as team kit sponsors and other deals each franchise will make before the start of the tournament. Like in Indian Premier League, we have seen the brand worth of each franchise has gone from $100 Million to more than a Billon dollars which is the same to be expected for WPL franchises in the next 10 years.
When Will the WPL Auction be held?
First ever Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction will take place in the first week of February where each franchise will utilize its team purse of 12 INR Crore to select a team squad for 15 to 18 players.
