At last the WIPL...
bonanza rights deal for women's IPL guarentees major expansion
With today’s announcement of $116m for media coverage of the inaugural women’s IPL, the future of the women’s game has arrived. Viacom18, also holders of the men’s IPL digital rights, were declared the bid winners earlier today. It values each women’s IPL match at about $860,000 for the next four years. It’s a fantastic boon for the game as a whole, not just the women’s version.
Last week we at the Worlds Best Cricket (virtual) Cricket Club interviewed Lydia Greenway who is working as an ICC mentor at the inaugural women’s U19 world cup in South Africa. She spoke of the incredible stories of some of the associate nations and their players just to make it to a global event. Also launching in South Africa this week is the IPL franchise backed SA20 league led by former Proteas captain Graeme Smith. Investment by the franchises has given CSA a much needed injection of cash and the hope is that the new domestic league will revitalise cricket in the rainbow nation. The conspicuous lack of the women’s SA20 is hopefully to be short lived as the BCCI is planning to shake up the landscape of women’s cricket for good and for the rising stars of the women’s U19 world cup, the next 2 weeks could have a profound impact on their career financial prospects.
The launch of the women’s IPL in March is billed to be the most lucrative league in the world for top international players mirroring the men’s tournament. The success of the league is being driven by the stunning increase in audience share with women and girls making up 48% of the 2022 men’s IPL audience. This stunning growth is lightyears away from the poultry female audience at the turn of the century when only 5% of cricket’s TV audience in India was female.
In 2020 alone the female audience for the IPL increased by 21%.
Now the funds to entice the stars of the international game have been announced. Viacom 18 have bought the rights for $116m for four years. The BCCI has committed to the same revenue sharing model used in the men’s competition meaning the BCCI will pay the franchisees an 80% share of the Central Rights income in the first five years, 60% in the next five years and 50% after 2033.
So it means that each new franchise will earn $3.5m per year from the media rights. So who will buy ? (sounds like a s song from Oliver!) Not surprisingly Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings, Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans were among those to have submitted bids. They can see the value and have the infrastructure. The Rajasthan Royals have even had female brands as shirt sponsors. The winning bids will be announced on January 25th.
The initial tournament format is a 22 match calendar with the BCCI confirming the competition’s window will be the month of March and the format will not change for the next 3 years. After that, there is a potential for the WIPL to expand with additional franchises growing to a 34 match tournament played in the existing window. This leaves potential investors an interesting debate as to whether to buy in immediately or perhaps move in when the league expands mirroring the growth of the men’s league and potential teething problems have been remedied.
The value of the sealed bids will be the litmus test of how much investors are willing to pay for the new franchises and ultimately how appealing the league is to players. The potential earnings and exposure for players at the top of the women’s game could be mouth-watering and the BCCI hopes so to replicate the juggernaut-like success of the last decade in the women’s game.