The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) unveiled the five successful bidders in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) franchise auction on Thursday, 25 January.
From the existing IPL franchises, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals have emerged successful in their bid to own a women's team.
Barring them, Adani Sportsline and Capri Global are the other two companies that will be owning a WPL franchise. The former will represent Ahmedabad, while the latter will represent Lucknow.
The board earned a combined Rs 4669.99 crores from the auction, with Adani Sportsline being the highest bidder (Rs 1289 crores for Ahmedabad).
Indiawin Sports, who own Mumbai Indians in IPL, were the second-highest bidders with a Rs 912.99 crores bid for Mumbai. Another IPL franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore will represent the IT capital once again, with a successful bid of 901 crores.
As for the national capital, Delhi, JSW GMR Cricket Pvt. Ltd. (owners of Delhi Capitals) came up with the highest bid of Rs 810 crores. The fifth team went to Capri Global – an Indian, non-banking financial company, who have invested in franchise cricket previously, being the owners of International League T20 side Sharjah Warriors. They will represent Lucknow.
Women's Premier League teams, alongside their bid amounts and respective cities.
(Photo: The Quint)
Making the announcement, BCCI secretary Jay Shah wrote on Twitter “Today is a historic day in cricket as the bidding for teams of inaugural #WPL broke the records of the inaugural Men's IPL in 2008! Congratulations to the winners as we garnered Rs.4669.99 Cr in total bid.”
"This marks the beginning of a revolution in women's cricket and paves the way for a transformative journey ahead not only for our women cricketers but for the entire sports fraternity. The #WPL would bring necessary reforms in women's cricket and would ensure an all-encompassing ecosystem that benefits each and every stakeholder. The BCCI has named the league - Women's Premier League (WPL). Let the journey begin," he further added.
Here are the five successful bidders, alongside their bids and the city they will be representing:
Adani Sportsline Pvt. Ltd. – Rs 1289 crores for Ahmedabad
Indiawin Sports Pvt. Ltd. – Rs 912.99 crores for Mumbai
Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd. – Rs 901 crores for Bengaluru
JSW GMR Cricket Pvt. Ltd. – Rs 810 crores for Delhi
Capri Global Holdings Pvt. Ltd. – Rs 757 crores for Lucknow
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