All major Indian broadcasters including Disney Star*, Viacom18, Sony and Zee will bid for the media rights of the Women’s Indian Premier League (WIPL) in the auction to be held on Monday. The BCCI has adopted a closed bid auction method for the day-long event, and will announce the winner on the same day.
ESPNcricinfo has learned that eight potential bidders had bought the tender document which was put up for sale in December. The rights, spread over a five-year period between 2023-27, included three categories: linear (TV), digital and composite (TV and digital). The rights will be sold globally including in India.
The WIPL media rights are significant as they constitute the majority of the central commercial pool from which the five franchises will receive 80% of their revenue. In the tender document for the franchise rights, the BCCI mentioned that it would share 80% of the business rights income from WIPL with the teams in the first five years, 60% in the next five years and 50% thereafter. Apart from this, the franchisee will also get 80% of the money received from the central licensing rights.
After initially organizing the Women’s T20 Challenge as an exhibition event, the BCCI last year finally decided to launch the WIPL with its inaugural edition to be played in March. While the BCCI is yet to announce the dates of the tournament, it is understood that the first season spread over 22 matches is likely to be played between March 5 and 23.
*ESPNcricinfo and Disney Star are part of The Walt Disney Company
