MUMBAI: The outcome of the media rights auction of the Women’s Indian Premier League (WIPL), or the Women’s T20 League (if that’s the name finally given), due on 16 January, will reportedly determine whether all ten franchises that make up the IPL, will put in team bids.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s upcoming T20 franchise tournament for women will have five teams.
While Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Punjab Kings are all thought to be definitely interested in acquiring a team, a final call from the other five IPL teams would be taken after the media rights bidding, as the economics of the business will be clearer then, Mint reports.
BCCI officials have confirmed to the business publication 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.
The auction is expected to see participation from all three major broadcast networks Disney Star, Sony-ZEE and Viacom18. As per e4m, the bidding will be a closed process with the highest bidder bagging the rights.
“Any interested party wishing to submit a bid is required to purchase the ITT. However, only those satisfying the eligibility criteria set out in the ITT and subject to the other terms and conditions set out therein, shall be eligible to bid. It is clarified that merely purchasing this ITT does not entitle any person to bid. The BCCI reserves the right to cancel or amend the bidding process at any stage in any manner at its discretion,” BCCI had stated while issuing the ITT.
“We are seeing a strong interest for the Women’s IPL,” a BCCI official told Mint, 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.
Meanwhile, as per ESPNcricinfo, the deadline for Indian players to register for the player auction is January 26 at 5 p.m. IST.
The base price for capped Indian players is set at Rs 30 lakh, Rs 40 lakh, and Rs 50 lakh in the document titled ‘Guidance note for Indian players’ exchanged by the board with the Indian players, the website has reported.
The base price for uncapped players is Rs 10 lakh and Rs 20 lakh. Players have reportedly been instructed to register for the auction directly with their state organisations rather than through agencies or managers.
