WPL: BCCI announces owners of Women’s Premier League teams; combined bid touches Rs 4,699.99 crore

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced all five franchises of the Women’s Indian Premier League (WIPL) – the inaugural edition of India’s women’s T20 league.

BCCI earned a ₹4,669.99 crore windfall for the sale of five teams. BCCI’s new T20 league for women will be called ‘Women’s Premier League’. The BCCI had started the process to launch the tournament last year.

The five franchises were purchased by the Adani group, Reliance, Diageo India, JSW-GMR and Capri Global for Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Lucknow respectively.

The BCCI will receive the amount for a period of 10 years. Here is a comprehensive list of all the team owners and the city they will be operating from:

BCCI President, Mr Roger Binny said, “I congratulate the winners for making successful bids to own WPL teams. The league will give players from India and abroad a chance to learn and grow together. It will pave the way for development at the grassroots level with the inclusion of more women cricketers. I would also like to congratulate the BCCI team for the smooth execution of the auction process. I’m confident that the league will help our women cricketers shine on the global stage.”

BCCI Honorary Secretary, Mr Jay Shah said, “It is a historic day for women’s cricket. I welcome Adani Sportsline Pvt. Ltd, Indiawin Sports Pvt. Ltd, Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd, JSW GMR Cricket Pvt. Ltd and Capri Global Holdings Pvt. Ltd to Women’s Premier League. The collective bid of INR 4669.99 crore shows that our stakeholders thoroughly believe in the concept and have faith in BCCI’s vision and plans for the league. I thank all the participants for their overwhelming response. I believe that with a record Media Rights valuation earlier and now with these high bids, the league will be commercially independent and self-sustaining property.”

“The league will surely provide more strength, but more importantly, create a more equitable future for women and girls in our sport. We are standing at a juncture where women’s cricket is set to grow by leaps and bounds and the WPL and the pay-parity decision earlier are significant milestones,” he added.

BCCI Vice-President, Mr Rajeev Shukla said, “This is the beginning of a new era of inclusivity where our women cricketers will get the unique opportunity to develop, thrive and excel at the global stage with the WPL. It fills my heart with pride to see this transformation happen in women’s cricket in such an affirmative way. This is truly going to set a benchmark for women’s cricket. A hearty congratulations to the new owners.”

Chairman, IPL Governing Council, Mr Arun Singh Dhumal said, “I would like to congratulate and welcome all the winners to WPL. It’s an honour and pleasure to see the response we have received from the participants to invest in the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League. This is a strong testament to the value women’s cricket can offer and with this, there will be a central pool of self-sustaining resources for Women’s cricket. I’m certain that women’s cricket will reach new heights with the commencement of the WPL.”

BCCI Treasurer, Mr Ashish Shelar said, “A historic day as we witnessed the dawn of a new era in women’s cricket. I congratulate and thank all the bidders for the faith they have shown in the Women’s Premier League. The teams attracted a total bid of INR 4669.99 which is a record figure for a women’s tournament and an indicator of the change to come. The Women’s Premier League (WPL) will be a definitive platform for our women cricketers to thrive and excel.”

BCCI Joint Secretary, Mr Devajit Saikia said, “I congratulate all the five teams for bagging the ownership rights for the Women’s Premier League. It truly is a red-letter day in the history of women’s cricket and for women in sports. We had 16 parties submitting their bids, which reaffirms their faith in the capabilities of the new league. The Women’s Premier League has already generated tremendous interest and these five teams will take the fan base to another level.”