Women's Premier League (cricket)

The Women's Premier League (WPL) is a women's Twenty20 cricket franchise league in India. It is owned and operated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).[1][2]

Women's Premier League
CountriesIndia
AdministratorBoard of Control for Cricket in India
FormatTwenty20 cricket
First edition2023
Latest edition2023
Next edition2024
Tournament formatDouble Round-robin and playoffs
Number of teams5
Current championMumbai Indians (1st title)
Most runsMeg Lanning (345)
Most wicketsHayley Matthews (16)
TVIndia
Sports18 (Television)
JioCinema (Internet)
International
List of broadcasters
Websitewplt20.com
Seasons

The first season was played in March 2023 and saw Mumbai Indians win the first title. Matches were played in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, with five franchises taking part.[3][4]

History

The first major women's Twenty20 competition in India was the Women's T20 Challenge. This started as a single-match tournament in 2018, and was expanded to a three-team, three-match competition held in 2019, 2020 and 2022.

In February 2022, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly announced plans to establish a women's version of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the major men's Twenty20 franchise cricket competition in India, replacing the Women's T20 Challenge.[5] By August plans were more advanced[6][7] and in October the BCCI announced that they were considering a five-team tournament which would take place in March 2023.[8][9] This league was informally known as the Women's Indian Premier League; the BCCI later named it the Women's Premier League.[1]

On 28 January 2023, the BCCI invited bids for the league's title sponsorship rights until 2027.[10] Tata Group won the bid for an undisclosed amount.[11] Mumbai Indians were the inaugural winners of the tournament, beating Delhi Capitals in the final.[12]

Organisation

The league's structure is based on the structure of the IPL.[13][14][15]

Initially there are five teams, with sides playing against each other in a double round robin format, and the three teams finishing with the most points entering the playoff stages of the competition.[16][17] The Board plans to increase the number of matches and franchises in future seasons if the league is a success.[18]

The first season of the league took place from 4 March to 26 March 2023, and featured 22 matches, all held at Brabourne Stadium and DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.[18][19] Tickets were made available free to women during the first season.[20]

The league's mascot, Shakti, is a tigress wearing a sky blue cricket uniform.[21]

Franchises
Locations of the Five WPL teams

Investors brought the initial franchise rights in January 2023 through a closed bidding process, raising a total of ₹4,669 crore (US$580 million).[22][23]

A number of companies responded to the sale of franchise rights which were sold for five years, from 2023 to 2027. Adani Group won the rights to the Ahmedabad franchise for ₹1,289 crore (US$160 million), Indiawin Sports Pvt Ltd, part of Reliance Industries, won the Mumbai franchise for ₹912.99 crore (US$110 million),[lower-alpha 1] GMR–JSW Cricket Pvt Ltd won the Delhi franchise for ₹810 crore (US$100 million),[lower-alpha 2] Capri Global holdings won the Lucknow franchise for ₹757 crore (US$95 million),[lower-alpha 3] and Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of alcohol manufacturing company Diageo, won the Bangalore franchise for ₹901 crore (US$110 million).[lower-alpha 4][24]

According to Jack Genovese of Ampere Analytics, a media research firm, the league is the world's second highest valued women's sports league just behind the Women's National Basketball Association in the United States.[14]

Three of the five franchises, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians, also have teams in the men's IPL.

Team City Debut Owners Captain Head coach
Delhi Capitals New Delhi 2023 JSW Group–GMR Group (JSW GMR Cricket Pvt. Ltd)[25] Meg Lanning[26] Jonathan Batty[27]
Gujarat Giants Ahmedabad 2023 Adani Group Beth Mooney[28][lower-alpha 5] Rachael Haynes[29]
Mumbai Indians Mumbai 2023 Indiawin Sports Harmanpreet Kaur[30] Charlotte Edwards[31]
Royal Challengers Bangalore Bangalore 2023 Diageo Smriti Mandhana[32] Ben Sawyer[33]
UP Warriorz Lucknow 2023 Capri Global Alyssa Healy[34] Jon Lewis[35]

Financial background

The BCCI intends to distribute 80% of the profits from the competition among the franchise owners during the first five years. For the next five seasons, 60% of the profits will be shared, and from seasons 11 to 15, 50% of the profits will be distributed. Additionally, 80% of the revenue from the central licensing rights for the competition will be shared with the franchises. Franchises will also generate revenue through merchandise, ticket sales and advertising.[18][36]

Player auction

The first auction to purchase players for each franchise was held on 13 February 2023 at Mumbai.[31][37] Around 1,500 players registered their names.[38][39] Each franchise had ₹12 crore (US$1.5 million) to spend and had to purchase between 15 and 18 players, six of whom could be overseas players.[13][31]

The base price of an uncapped player at the first auction was between ₹10 lakh (US$13,000) and ₹20 lakh (US$25,000). For capped players it was between ₹30 lakh (US$38,000) and ₹50 lakh (US$63,000).[40] In future seasons the purse size for each franchise will be increased by ₹1.5 crore (US$190,000) each year.[18]

In the first auction a total of ₹59.50 crore (US$7.5 million) was spent to purchase 87 players. Smriti Mandhana was the most expensive player purchased in the initial auction; she signed for Royal Challengers Bangalore for ₹3.4 crore (US$430,000) and was appointed as the team's captain.[41]

Broadcasting

In January 2023, Viacom18, announced it had acquired the global media rights for TV and digital broadcasts for the tournament. The contract will run for five years and was worth ₹951 crore (US$120 million).[42] The initial season of the league is broadcasting in India on the Sports18 TV channel and the JioCinema app, both of which are owned by Viacom18.[43]

The first season of the competition was broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports,[44] in Australia by Fox Sports Australia, in the United States and Canada by Willow TV and in South Africa by SuperSports.[45]

See also

Notes
  1. Reliance also owns the Mumbai Indians franchise in the men's IPL
  2. GMR-JSW Group also own the Delhi Capitals franchise in the men's IPL
  3. Capri Global have existing teams in Pro Kabaddi League and International League T20.
  4. The company is the current franchise holder for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the men's IPL
  5. Sneh Rana was appointed captain for the rest of the season after the originally appointed captain Beth Mooney was ruled out due to an injury.

References
  1. "Women's IPL: BCCI earns Rs 4669.99 crore windfall for 5 teams". Rediff. 25 January 2023.
  2. @JayShah (25 January 2023). "The @BCCI has named the league - Women's Premier League (WPL). Let the journey begin..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. "'Let the journey begin': BCCI garners Rs 4669.99 crore for sale of 5 Women's Premier League teams". The Times of India. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  4. "CCI, DY Patil to host WPL from March 4–26; Mumbai-Ahmedabad to play opening game". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  5. "BCCI plans to start a full-fledged women's IPL in 2023: Sourav Ganguly". India Today. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  6. Acharya, Shayan (12 August 2022). "Women's IPL: BCCI exploring late February-March 2023 window for the T20 tournament". sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  7. "BCCI to hold inaugural Women's Indian Premier League in March 2023". Outlook. 12 August 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  8. "BCCI considers 5 teams, 2 venues, 20 league matches for inaugural WIPL". Cricbuzz. 13 October 2022. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  9. "Inaugural Women's IPL likely to be played from March 3 to 26". ESPN Cricinfo. 9 December 2022. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  10. "BCCI invites bids for Women's Premier League title sponsorship rights for 2023-2027". Deccan Herald. 28 January 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  11. "WPL Title Sponsor: IPL". Loksatta.
  12. "Mumbai Indians become the first WPL champions thanks to Sciver-Brunt and Wong". ESPN Cricinfo. 26 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  13. "Women's Indian Premier League franchises go for £465m". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  14. "Stunning Prices for Cricket Teams Are a Milestone for Women's Sports". NY times. 26 January 2023.
  15. "'Life changing'..." Fox Sports. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  16. "Game Changer..." The Guardian. 3 February 2023.
  17. "Women's IPL 2023 Format, Rules". Time of Sports. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  18. महिला आयपीएल लिलावात, ४००० कोटींची कमाई! [Women IPL minted 4000 crore!]. Lokmat (in Marathi). 23 January 2023. p. 6. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  19. "WPL Auction starts from 13 Feb 2023". Worldcup.org.in. 11 February 2023.
  20. "Women's Premier League Bcci Finally Announce Tickets Rates Starts From Rupees 100".
  21. "Women's Premier League: BCCI Secretary Jay Shah Unveils Official Mascot 'Shakti'". NDTV.
  22. "How Women's IPL auction could change sports in India - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  23. "Owners of Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, RCB win bids to own Women's Premier League teams". ESPNcricinfo. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  24. "मिथाली..." [Mithali Raj...]. Jagran. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  25. Dixit, Ravi Dixit (2 March 2023). "Delhi Capitals WPL 2023 Team Matches & Players List, Venues, Live Telecast". Cricable.
  26. "Meg Lanning named Delhi Capitals captain at WPL". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  27. "WPL: Jonathan Batty, Lisa Keightley, Hemlata Kala, Biju George in Delhi Capitals coaching staff". ESPNcricinfo. 11 February 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  28. "Gujarat Giants' Beth Mooney ruled out of remainder of WPL 2023 due to injury". Gujarat Giants. 9 March 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  29. "WPL: Rachael Haynes joins Gujarat Giants as head coach". ESPNcricinfo. 3 February 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  30. "AYE CAPTAIN! Harmanpreet Kaur to lead Mumbai Indians in the WPL". Mumbai Indians. 1 March 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  31. Nagraj Gollapudi (2023) Charlotte Edwards to coach Mumbai's WPL team, CricInfo, 5 February 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  32. "Smriti Mandhana: RCBची मोठी घोषणा! स्मृती मंधानाकडे सोपवली कर्णधाराची जबाबदारी". eSakal - Marathi Newspaper (in Marathi). Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  33. "Ben Sawyer named Royal Challengers Bangalore head coach for inaugural WPL campaign". The Cricketer. 15 February 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  34. "WPL: UP Warriorz name Alyssa Healy as captain". Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  35. "WPL: England national coach Jon Lewis appointed head coach of WPL team UP Warriorz". ESPNcricinfo. 10 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  36. "'Life changing'..." Fox Sports. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  37. "Women's Premier League auction in Mumbai". Times of India. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  38. Gollapudi, Nagraj (6 February 2023). "Women's Premier League to begin on March 4".
  39. "around 1K sing up for WPL auction". news18.com.
  40. "Haldiram, Infosys, 10 IPL teams among 30-plus companies to show interest in buying teams in Women's IPL: Report". TimesNow. 21 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  41. Dixit, Ravi (3 March 2023). "WPL 2023 Schedule, Teams, Captains, Start Date, Squad, Venues, Prediction". Cricable. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  42. "Women's IPL: Viacom 18 wins media rights, to pay INR 7.09 crore per match". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  43. "Women's IPL Media Rights Bagged By Viacom 18 For A Sensational Rs 951 Crore Deal". Latestly. 16 January 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  44. "Women's Premier League: 2023 season of women's version of IPL to be shown live on Sky Sports this March". Sky Sports. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  45. WPL 2023, where to watch live: TV channels & live streaming | Women’s Premier League, Wisden online, 2 March 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.

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