Breaking Barriers, Smashing Stereotypes: Women’s IPL Unleashed
“Women are the untapped reservoir of talent in the world”. Cricket has traditionally been a sport that favors men, undermining the spotlight of young talented women cricketers worldwide. Yet, the women’s premier league held in 2023 might make this viewpoint completely different!
This event is anticipated to serve as a significant marketing platform for women’s cricket, significantly altering sponsorship and other facets of women’s cricket. The debut of the men’s IPL 15 years ago changed and continues to change the lives of young male cricketers. Imagine if this were the situation for female cricket players; WPL might just be what these young women need to advance their careers. Now let us take a look at the behind the scenes of WPL!
Title Bids
About two weeks after the BCCI announced the title bids for the WPL, the prominent Tata group was chosen as the event’s sponsor for five years. It is envisaged that women’s cricket would grow further with the help of the Tata Group by its side. There will be a total of five teams competing against one another, making up a total of 23 matches. The rules are pretty similar to the men’s IPL which we all are very well aware of. Five WPL teams — the Gujarat Giants, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians, and UP Warriorz — will face off in competition with one another in an effort to win the championship.
Total revenue from the sale of these franchises was £465 million, a sizable sum that demonstrates the growing popularity and financial support of women’s cricket.
As for the WPL media rights, they were acquired by Viacom18 for Rs 951 crore during the years 2023–2027. If Viacom18 wants to see a return on its investment in the property, it will need to step up its marketing efforts and expand WPL’s audience. While it might not yield much gain in the first few years, it will undoubtedly yield an enormous profit over time.
Franchise ownership
Many renowned organizations from around the world competed to own the five franchises. However, only five fortunate firms were able to acquire ownership of these franchises, giving them the authority to market and promote their individual franchises. Investors raised a total of 4,669 crores (US$580 million) to purchase the initial franchise rights in January 2023 through a closed bidding process.
The owners of the five franchises respectively are,
- Delhi Capitals -> GMR–JSW Cricket Pvt Ltd
- Gujarat Giants -> Adani group
- Mumbai Indians -> Indiawin Sports
- Royal Challengers Bangalore -> Diageo
- UP Warriorz -> Capri Global
Adani Group acquired the rights to the Ahmedabad franchise for ₹1,289 crores (US$160 million), Indiawin Sports Pvt Ltd, part of Reliance Industries, obtained the Mumbai franchise for ₹912.99 crore (US$110 million), GMR–JSW Cricket Pvt Ltd acquired the Delhi franchise for ₹810 crore (US$100 million), Capri Global holdings obtained the Lucknow franchise for ₹757 crore (US$95 million), and Diageo procured the Bangalore franchise for ₹901 crore (US$110 million).
WPL 2023 Auction highlights
A substantial sum of money was spent on players during the Women’s IPL auction.Overall, a total of Rs. 59.5 Crore was spent on 87 players in the auction.
The highest bid at the auction,made by Royal Challengers Bangalore for Smriti Mandana, was Rs. 3.4 crore. After a time of great turmoil, Gujarat Giants spent Rs 3.2 crore to acquire Australian all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner.
The Mumbai Indians subsequently paid Rs 3.2 crore for Natalie Sciver of England.
Via the purchase of Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain of the Indian women’s team, for Rs. 1.8 crore, Mumbai Indians also struck it rich. Players Richa Ghosh, Ellyse Perry, and Reunka Singh were also acquired by Royal Challengers Bangalore for sums of Rs 1.9 crore, Rs 1.7 crore, and Rs 1.5 crore, respectively.
The purchases of Amelia Kerr by Mumbai Indians for Rs. 1 crore and Devika Vaidya by UP Warriorz for Rs. 1.4 crore are additional highlights.
“Empowering women is the key to building the future we want”
WPL 2023 is projected to be one of the year’s major athletic events. Fans can’t wait for the Women’s IPL 2023 to begin since it will be a historic time for women’s sports. Bringing about not only a significant transformation in the women’s cricket marketing sector but also a substantial amount of support for women to finally flourish in their domains without being overshadowed by the notoriety of men’s cricket.
Credits: dork_boy | E-Cell, ABV-IIITM
