Women’s Premier League (WPL).
For sponsorship purposes, the Women’s Premier League (WPL), an Indian women’s T20 cricket franchise league, is also known as the Tata women’s premier league. It is owned and operated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The Tournament’s Past
The first season, which began in March 2023, was won by the Mumbai Indians. The matches, which took place in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, included five franchises.
In 2024, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were victorious in the second season, which took place between February and March. Matches were held at Bangalore and Delhi.
The season for 2025 has not yet started.
Background.
The Women’s T20 Challenge was India’s first significant women’s T20 competition prior to the women’s premier league . It began as a one-match competition in 2018. In 2019, 2020, and 2022, it grew into a competition with three clubs and three games.
Then-BCCI President Sourav Ganguly announced in February 2022 that a full-fledged women’s version of the Indian Premier League (IPL) would take the place of the Women’s T20 Challenge. Preparations had advanced by August 2022, and the BCCI publicly announced in October 2022 that they will host a five-team tournament in March 2023.
Originally called the Women’s IPL, the BCCI formally changed its name to the Women’s Premier League (WPL). On January 28, 2023, BCCI opened bids for championship sponsorship rights through 2027. The Tata Group won the offer for an undisclosed amount.
Organization of the League.
The structure of the women’s premier league and IPL is comparable:
Initially, five teams played in a double round-robin format.
The top three teams in the league stage advance to the playoffs.
If the league is successful, the BCCI plans to expand the number of teams and games in subsequent seasons.
The first season ran from March 4 to March 26, 2023, and saw 22 games played at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium and DY Patil Stadium.
In the first season, women were allowed free admission to watch the bouts.
The league’s mascot, a tigress wearing a sky-blue cricket suit, is called Shakti.
Financial Model:
The BCCI intends to provide franchise owners 80% of the league’s profits during the first five years.
Over the next five seasons, 60% of profits will be disbursed.
Half of the profits from Seasons 11 through 15 will be distributed to the franchises.
Additionally, 80% of the earnings from central licensing rights will go to franchises.
Teams will profit from merchandise sales, ticket sales, and advertising.
Players’ Auction
The first women’s premier league auction was held in Mumbai on February 13, 2023.
There were about 1,500 people that registered for the auction.
Each team was given a budget of ₹12 crore, or roughly $1.4 million, to buy 15–18 players, with a maximum of six foreign players.
The base price for uncapped players was between ₹10 lakh and ₹20 lakh ($12,000 and $23,000).
For capped players, the starting price range was ₹30 lakh to ₹50 lakh ($35,000 to $58,000).
The funding for each squad would increase by ₹1.5 crore ($170,000) per season in later editions.
At the first auction, 87 players were purchased for a total of ₹59.50 crore ($6.9 million).
Royal Challengers Bangalore paid Smriti Mandhana ₹3.4 crore ($390,000) to hire her.
Broadcasting Rights
A five-year agreement of ₹951 crore ($110 million) was reached in January 2023 by Viacom18 to purchase the global TV and internet broadcast rights for the WPL.
The games were broadcast on India’s Sports18 TV Channel and streamed on the JioCinema app.
In the UK, Sky Sports carried the broadcast.
In Australia, Fox Sports Australia broadcast it.
It was broadcast on Willow TV in the United States and Canada.
In South Africa, SuperSport carried it.
In New Zealand, it was shown on Sky Sport.
Astro Cricket broadcast the matches in Hong Kong and Malaysia.
In China, it was aired on Star Sports.
Also See: Cricket in India
The History of Women’s Cricket in India and Its Associations
