Reports: BCCI sets Rs 400 Crore as base price for Women’s IPL Franchise

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided on setting a base price for the Women’s IPL franchises. As per multiple reports, the apex cricket board of the nation is ideating plans to auction five franchises for the forthcoming women’s top-tier domestic league.

The much-awaited IPL starring women is all set to become a reality now as the competition is tentatively scheduled to commence in March 2023 following the conclusion of the Women's T20 World Cup in February. Reports claim that the board has marked a base price of Rs 400 Crore (USD 50m approx.) as they took into account the value of the costliest IPL franchise that was sold back in 2007-08.

“The benchmark had to be set somewhere and the BCCI had been gathering a bit of market intelligence on this, keeping in mind the demand and market interest,” those in the know of developments said, as quoted by News18.

When the IPL began in 2008, just prior to the inaugural season, the Mumbai franchise was sold to Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). The franchise was sold for a massive ₹446 crores ($111 million approx.) thereby making it the most expensive team to be sold in the domestic league.

Winning franchise will pay ownership fees over period of five years: Sources

As the BCCI has set the benchmark in terms of the base price, the board also understands that the value of each franchise sold will garner them somewhere between ₹1000 and ₹1500 crore or even beyond, depending on the interest of the parties. Sources have also claimed that the winning side will be given a period of five years to fully pay the ownership fees.

“The winning franchise will pay the ownership fees to the BCCI over a period of five years in equal instalments and continue to own the property for perpetuity, like in the men’s IPL,” the source added.

The BCCI has proposed a roadmap that involves a total of 22 matches, with each franchise comprising 18 players with a maximum of six overseas players. Furthermore, not more than five overseas players can feature in a match, with four from ‘full member’ nations and one from an ‘associate’ nation.