Women's IPL 2023 | In a major update ahead of the unveiling of Women's IPL teams, eight men's IPL franchises are reportedly in the race to own the teams in the Women's tournament. The Women's IPL will be kicked off in 2023 and 5 teams will be in action for the inaugural tournament.
According to various media reports, eight franchises from the men's IPL are interested to purchase 5 teams for the WIPL 2023. According to ESPNCricinfo, the interested bidders include Gujarat Titans, Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings, and Delhi Capitals. The names of the 5 franchises are likely to be unveiled on January 25 and the final date to submit the technical bids for evaluation is January 23.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India recently opened the tender document for the purchase of 5 WIPL teams. The Indian Board also released a list of 10 Indian cities and the venues for the tournament. According to the tender, a party can bid for more than 1 city. There is no base price set for the teams and the bids will be for a 10-year long period.
The BCCI has pointed out in its tender document that it is "not obliged to accept the highest monetary offer" and will look for ways for the bidders to work towards enhancing the growth of women's cricket in India. The WIPL is likely to be held from March 3 to 26, before the start of the Men’s IPL to facilitate the use of stadiums in case there are no multiple stadiums available.
80% share to be given to franchises
The BCCI had earlier facilitated that it will share 80 per cent of the profit share with the franchises. "The BCCI shall pay the franchisee 80% of all Central Team Licensing Income every year," a board said in the ITT. "BCCI shall pay the franchisees 80% share of Central Rights income in first five years, 60% in next five years and 50% post that."
10 Stadiums are in contention for WIPL including Ahmedabad, Chennai and Mumbai, with the latter having three stadiums in place for the marquee event. The list includes Ahmedabad (Narendra Modi stadium, capacity 112,560), Kolkata (Eden Gardens, 65,000), Chennai (MA Chidambaram stadium, 50,000), Bangalore (M Chinnaswamy stadium, 42,000), Delhi (Arun Jaitley stadium, 55,000), Dharamsala (HPCA stadium, 20,900), Guwahati (Barsapara Stadium, 38,650), Indore (Holkar stadium, 26,900), Lucknow (AB Vajpayee Ekana cricket stadium, 48,800) and Mumbai (Wankhede / DY Patil / Brabourne Stadiums).
