Women IPL 2023: BCCI could make Rs 4,000 crore; big biz groups expected to bid

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to see some of the top business houses bid for the five Women’s IPL (WIPL) teams. The auction will take place on Wednesday. The cricket board, if reports are to be believed, is expected to get richer by Rs 4,000 crore. Every team is expected to fetch Rs 500-600 crore during the auction. WIPL will be played in March in Mumbai. 

An industry leader who worked on the men’s IPL team bid told news agency PTI that while WIPL has a lot of potential, most of the legacy teams would mix pragmatism and optimism. Some bids might fetch up to Rs 800 too, said the source. 

As many as 30 companies have bought bid documents worth Rs 5 lakh, including all the 10 men’s IPL teams. Adani Group, Torrent Group, Haldiram’s Prabhuji, Capri Global, Kotak and Aditya Birla Group have reportedly shown interest in bidding for a team. 

From the traditional IPL teams, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals, KKR might seriously consider adding a women’s wing.

Business houses are basing these bids on return on investment (ROI) and something known within the business community as ‘Return of Ego’. wherein a big business name eyes a particular property, irrespective of business sense. 

The BCCI distributes its media broadcast revenue, which makes for a considerable earning chunk. It also distributes a share from BCCI’s central pool of sponsorship. The team also earns from its own sponsorship earnings. Then there are gate sales and money earned from tickets. 

"The BCCI in case of Women's IPL is going to share 80 per cent of media rights money with the teams (in case of men, it's 50:50) to help them develop a sustainable model. So what will be the mathematics over here? JIO has bought media rights for five years at Rs 950 crore (approx) which is roughly Rs 190 crore per year. So 80 per cent of 190 crore is 152 crore. Let's make it a round figure of Rs 150 crore. That's what each franchise gets over a period of five years, which approximately is Rs 30 crore per annum," explained the industry leader.

"Now BCCI will also distribute a chunk of its central pool of sponsorship (title sponsor, co sponsors, various award sponsors) also with franchise. Add to it franchisee's own revenue pool also. So it could be anything between Rs 15 to Rs 18 crore per year. Gate sales won't earn you a great deal in the first year," he said.

So the per year earning for a team is expected to be Rs 50 crore.

Apart from Rs 100 crore franchisee fee per year, there will be a salary cap of Rs 12 crore per squad, along with Rs 6-8 crore salary of the support staff. If we assume the amount to be Rs 20, and add fee to state associations and other operational costs of around Rs 6-8 crore. 

"So the cumulative expenses per year could be Rs 128 to Rs 130 crore. The earnings would be around Rs 50 crore. So there is a chance during the first few years, there would be a loss of Rs 50 crore or more," he explained.

He said that the legacy franchises are better placed to offset these losses as they have been in the business for 15 years. Clubbing both men and women’s team together will enable them to make profits more quickly, he explained.

(With PTI inputs)

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