IPL team owners ready to pad up for women’s league

However, they said a final decision would be taken after 12 January, when the media rights for the proposed league will be auctioned, to better understand the economics of the business.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials have confirmed that all 10 team owners have either purchased the tender document or sent in an official request to buy one for a WIPL team.

Last week, the board invited bids to acquire the rights to own and operate a WIPL team. The last date to buy the tender documents is 21 January, and the bidding is expected to be held on the 25 January. BCCI has not mentioned a reserve price for the auction.

“We are seeing a strong interest for the Women’s IPL,” a BCCI official said, requesting anonymity. “While there is no base price, as there are limited teams — five — to start with, and by our calculations, around 12-15 serious bidders, the bids may surprise everyone. Moreover, the media rights would have been sold by then, which will allow the interested parties to do their maths.”

WIPL will have five teams and 22 matches in the first three seasons. The BCCI is expected to add one more team from the fourth season, taking the total number of matches to 33 or 34.

Vinit Karnik, head of sports, entertainment and esports at GroupM South Asia, believes there will potentially be a great interest of bidders for the five new IPL women’s franchises since for existing IPL team owners, it’s a logical brand extension, while for others, it could be an entry point to the IPL club.

“Moreover, I can count five other key reasons for this excitement. Firstly, IPL as a league and format is established and hugely successful; second, with the equal pay announcement, BCCI has very clearly demonstrated their interest and seriousness in making women’s cricket bigger and better,” Karnik said. “Third, we have seen a couple of smaller seasons of Women’s T20 on the sidelines of IPL. Our women’s team is one of the best in the world, and India’s bench strength is increasing faster than we think. You also have to consider that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) is a key area of focus for corporate worldwide. Awareness and programmes around DE&I are taken very seriously and for the right reasons. WIPL could potentially do a lot of good around this. And lastly, WIPL has great potential to expand the advertiser base to multiple brand categories that may not have used cricket as frequently and effectively.”

While there is interest, team owners are also cautious. Manoj Badale, the lead owner of Rajasthan Royals, said his company would certainly aim to secure a franchise within the Women’s IPL. “However, our bid will be a rational investment decision based on our view of the likely economics of the tournament. Whether we get a franchise or not, our commitment to the women’s game is unequivocal.”

Badale added that the WIPL would be a fantastic step forward, and thus, it is a very exciting time for everyone associated with women’s cricket in India. “The competition will raise the profile of not just women’s cricket but also the development of women’s sports in the country. We are thrilled to be witnessing this evolution, having seen, and been part of, the IPL’s impact since the tournament’s inception.”

A few franchises, including Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, have supported women’s cricket through various programmes. While KKR owns a women’s team in an international league, Rajasthan Royals has a grassroots cricket programme with the Royal Sparks and organizes the Royals School Girls Cup and the RR Women’s Cup, and has unisex coaching courses at its academies.

“It will be a tragedy if a good IPL franchise could not get a team because the business is not making sense,” said one of the team owners. “We can’t be seen bidding on the basis of FOMO (fear of missing out). We are definitely interested, but if it makes business sense for us. We are in business, and while we would like to support women’s cricket, we will wait and watch here.”

Like the IPL, it is a given that the franchise owners will not be able to make money in the initial years.

On the cost front, the teams will have to pay the franchise fee for the first 10 years. The player purse is expected to be around ₹12-15 crore in the initial years, while the management and other operating costs are expected to be another 10-15 crore.

On the revenue side, BCCI will share 80% of the central revenue pool — the revenue it will generate from the media rights and central sponsorships — with the five teams. The teams can also earn from sponsorships and gate revenues (ticket sales).

However, two franchise owners point out that the gate revenue for women’s cricket isn’t much, and as the league is scheduled just after the Women’s T20 World Cup, which is scheduled from 10-26 February, there is not enough time to sell sponsorships.

“If we win a franchise, it will be at the end of January, by the time we have the team and brand in place, the players will be out to play the World Cup. It will only be after 26 February when we will get them, and 3 March is when the BCCI is looking at starting the league. We don’t have enough time,” said an executive on condition of anonymity.

The base for women’s cricket from an advertising point of view is there, as they weren’t able to advertise.

The unidentified franchise owner cited above said that media rights, while the BCCI is expecting a windfall, it is hardly going to be a big amount.

“We all know that at present, the best-rated women’s T20 match can get an ad revenue of around ₹2 crore. In five years, the total number of matches expected is 132. Even if a broadcaster decides to pay ₹1,000 crore for five years, it is over ₹7.5 crore per match he will have to recover. And teams will get around ₹30 crore from the BCCI,” he said.

On the economics, the BCCI official said that it would be a big rush, and team owners will now make profits of over ₹400 crore from men’s IPL, a small loss on WIPL in the initial years won’t hurt. “It’s nothing compared to the value they will create,” he said.