'Red letter day for women’s cricket in India' - Twitter exclaims with euphoria as Viacom18 bags historic media rights for Women’s IPL
A total of five teams will be seen playing in the inaugural edition of the tournament.
Viacom18 has acquired the media rights for the first five editions of the Women’s Indian Premier League (WIPL) for a whopping INR 951 crore. According to reports, Disney-Star was the only other bidder that showed interest in acquiring the media rights of the event. Following the same, it is understood that the Reliance-owned company is said to have bid almost 10 times more than what the Disney-Star offered.
Notably, after the historic media rights deal, the value per game is deemed at INR 7.09 crore. The tournament is reportedly set to host 22 matches in a five-team format for the first three years of the competition. Later, the BCCI has plans to expand the tournament as a sixth team could be added, making it a 34-match spectacle.
Jay Shah delighted to announce a big leap in Women's cricket
BCCI secretary Jay Shah was delighted to share the news and mentioned the importance of the big leap in women’s cricket. He stated that the Women’s IPL is heading in the right direction and it is understandable by looking at the media rights deal.
“Today we have taken one big leap. The broadcasters play a key role in taking the game to a wider audience and their active interest in the league is a clear indication that the WIPL is headed in the right direction. The per-match valuation of Rs. 7.09 crore is something that has never previously been registered for a women’s game,” Shah wrote in a statement.
In the meantime, the name of the franchises will be disclosed on January 25. As per the initial reports, eight IPL franchises have shown interest in owning a team and also the owners of Manchester United are said to have expressed their interest in the same. There are many other Indian business houses who have also submitted their bids to own and operate a team in the WIPL.
Here's how Twitter reacted -
For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS App Store and Google Play Store
Download Our App