Broadcasters set to bid for women’s IPL media rights

Big-name broadcasters such as Disney-Star, Sony-Zee, and Viacom18 are reportedly in the running to clinch the media rights for the upcoming women’s IPL.

According to a Business Standard article, these aforementioned broadcasters are readying bids for the 2023-2027 cycle of the inaugural competition. Other media houses which too have thrown their names in the hat include Amazon Prime Video, FanCode, and Times Internet. The auction for the WIPL media rights is set to take place on 16th January, 2023.

The same media conglomerates had last year bid for the men’s IPL media rights, which were ultimately sold for a whopping Rs. 48,930 crore over the 2023-2027 cycle.

However, the upcoming bid for the women’s tournament will involve closed-envelope bids to promote transparency, as per the article. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are reportedly eyeing a sale of about Rs. 1,100-1,250 crore from the WIPL media rights auction.

Looked at from a per-year perspective, this would come to about Rs. 220-250 crore annually, which further translated to about Rs. 10-11 crore per match. While this figure is miles behind that of the men’s tournament, grossing around Rs. 118 crore per match, the interest from such famed broadcasters are certainly a step towards the right direction for women’s cricket in India. The Bridge