Women’s IPL bags record ₹4,669 cr in bidding; Adani group top bidder

The women’s Indian Premier League, popularly known as Women’s IPL, has bagged a whopping ₹4,669.99 crore in bidding this year, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said today. With this, the bidding has broken the records of the inaugural men’s IPL in 2008. 

In a tweet, Jay Shah, the secretary of BCCI said, "Today is a historic day in cricket as the bidding for teams of inaugural #WPL broke the records of the inaugural Men’s IPL in 2008! Congratulations to the winners as we garnered ₹4,669.99 crore in total bid. This marks the beginning of a revolution in women’s cricket and paves the way for a transformative journey ahead not only for our women cricketers but for the entire sports fraternity. The #WPL would bring necessary reforms in women’s cricket and would ensure an all-encompassing ecosystem that benefits each and every stakeholder."

"The @BCCI has named the league—Women’s Premier League (WPL). Let the journey begin...." Shah added. 

According to the BCCI, Adani Sportsline Pvt. Ltd, the sports subsidiary of Adani Group, emerged as the top bidder at a whopping amount of ₹1,289 crore. It was followed by Mumbai-based Indiawin Sports Pvt Ltd at ₹912.99 crore. While Bengaluru-based Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd emerged as the third-highest bidder at ₹901 crore, Delhi-based JSW GMR Cricket Pvt Ltd emerged as the fourth-highest bidder at ₹810 crore. The Lucknow-based Capri Global Holdings Pvt Ltd, emerged as the fifth-highest bidder at ₹757 crore. 

Notably, last week, Viacom 18, which is a joint venture between Mukesh Ambani's Network 18 and Paramount Global, bagged the IPL women's media rights for the next five years. With this, the company committed ₹951 crore between 2023 and 2027. For each match of total 22 IPL matches every year, Viacom18 will pay ₹7.09 for the next five years. 

Apart from Viacom 18, Disney-Star, and Sony-Zee were also in the fray for media rights. With the IPL women media rights sale, the BCCI is eyeing to raise around ₹1,100 to ₹1,250 crore annually. 

Nita Ambani, director, Reliance Industries, had earlier said the company's mission is to take the "joyful experience of IPL to cricket fans wherever they are -- in every part of our country and around the world". 

In April last year, Reliance Industries and Viacom18 entered into a strategic partnership with Bodhi Tree Systems, a platform of James Murdoch's Lupa Systems and Uday Shankar, to set up one of the largest TV and digital streaming companies in India.