Viacom18 bags Women’s IPL media rights for Rs. 951 crore: Jay Shah

The Indian cricket board is expected to launch its ambitious franchise-based T20 league for women cricketers on the lines of the Indian Premier League in March 2023. The BCCI, in December 2022, had floated the tender to invite media houses to bid for the broadcast rights of the competition that has been long in demand in Indian cricket.

Congratulations @viacom18 for winning the Women’s @IPL media rights. Thank you for your faith in @BCCI and @BCCIWomen. Viacom has committed INR 951 crores which means per match value of INR 7.09 crores for next 5 years (2023-27). This is massive for Women’s Cricket 🙏🇮🇳

— Jay Shah (@JayShah) January 16, 2023

The BCCI president Roger Binny in an official statement released by the board said, “I would like to congratulate Viacom18 for bagging the media rights for Women’s IPL for the period of 5 years. Women’s cricket has been on the up since a few years and the recently concluded bilateral series against Australia is a great testament to how popular women’s cricket has become in India. It was only apt to get our own women’s T20 league and give the fans more of women’s cricket. I would also like to congratulate the BCCI leadership and its workforce for a successful media rights process and wish them the very best for the first edition of the Women’s IPL.”

Earlier this week, the BCCI had also announced the release of a tender for the right to own and operate a team in the inaugural Women’s Indian Premier League (IPL) season later this year.

The cricket governing body released a media statement on January 3 stating, ‘The detailed terms and conditions governing the tender process including eligibility requirements, the process for submissions of bids, proposed team’s rights and obligations, etc. are contained in the ‘Invitation to Tender’ (“ITT”) which will be made available on receipt of payment of a non-refundable fee of INR 5,00,000 (Rupees Five Lakhs Only) plus any applicable Goods and Services Tax. The procedure to procure the ITT documents is enlisted in Annexure A to this document. The ITT will be available for purchase till January 21, 2023.”

While talking about the competition, BCCI Secretary Jay Shah had said last summer, “We are in discussions with other Boards about the possible window when all top cricketers will be available. I can promise that the valuation of the league, franchises and media rights will stun one and all.”