Viacom 18 will pay 9.51 billion Indian rupees (about €107 million) for the media rights of the women's Indian Premier League (IPL) for the next five years, the country's cricket board have (BCCI) announced.
Viacom 18 outbid Disney Star, Sony and Zee among other broadcasters in a closed-bid auction in Mumbai, with the inaugural women's IPL - a Twenty20 tournament - set to be played in March, as reported by ESPN.
A three-team Women's T20 Challenge had been staged alongside the men's IPL since 2018, but the BCCI had been urged to set up an expanded tournament for women with more teams and players.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah welcomed the news adding that the bidding amount would have a per-match-value of 70.9 million Indian rupees (€801,639 per match).
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
A three-team Women's T20 Challenge had been staged alongside the men's IPL since 2018, but the BCCI had been urged to set up an expanded tournament for women with more teams and players.
The ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023 gets underway in Cape Town on February 10th, with the Irish Cricket team competing in Group B.
Group A: Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh
Group B: England, India, Pakistan, West Indies, Ireland
