The BCCI on Monday announced that Viacom 18 has grabbed the media rights for the upcoming Women’s IPL for a whopping Rs 951 crore for five years after pipping other bidders, including Disney Star and Sony, in a closed-bid auction. This means that the Board will earn INR 7.90 Cr for each match—this is more than the media rights of a men’s league, the Pakistan Super League or the PSL.
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The auction for the T20 league was conducted by the cricket board in Mumbai on Monday. The inaugural Women’s IPL is likely to begin in the first week of March. Five teams will compete and all the matches will be held in Mumbai.
The global rights comprise three categories — linear (TV), digital and combined (TV and digital) and Viacom 18 successfully bid for the combined rights.
Moreover, as per a statement issued by the PCB in January 2022, the media rights for the 2022 and 2023 edition of the Pakistan Super League was sold at INR 1.5 billion. “The consortium of ARY and PTV had submitted the highest bid at the aggregated fee of PKR4,350,786,786 – 50 per cent more than the last cycle – to secure the two-year-long home TV broadcast rights through a robust and transparent bidding process on 23 December.”
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Nonetheless, the amount paid by the Viacom is significantly more than the PSL.
“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,” BCCI president Roger Binny said in a release issued by the board.
“It was only apt to get our own women’s T20 league and give the fans more of women’s cricket.”
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According to BCCI secretary Jay Shah, the fee per match will come to Rs 7.09 crore for the next five years.
“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 Women’s Indian Premier League is headed in the right direction. The per-match valuation of Rs INR 7.09 crore is something that has never previously been registered for a women’s game,” Shah said.
“I congratulate Viacom18 for securing both the TV and digital rights with a combined bid of INR 951 crores and welcome them on Board. The journey has well and truly started and we will take another major step this month when the five franchises are announced.”
Viacom18 had won the IPL digital rights for Rs 23,758 crore while Disney Star had retained the TV rights for Rs 23,575 crore for a five-year period starting 2023 during a three-day auction held in June, 2022.
(With PTI Inputs)
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