BCCI postpones Women’s IPL media rights auctions to January 16

The Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) has announced that the auctions for media rights of the inaugural edition of the Women’s Indian Premier League (IPL) is now postponed to 16th January. The auctions for media rights were initially scheduled to take place on January 12.

BCCI had earlier announced and is already in contention to host the inaugural edition of Women’s IPL in the first week of March 2023. BCCI had already notified ICC and reserved a slot in the Future Tours Programme (FTP) for Women’s International cricket.

Surprisingly, the Invitation to Tender (ITT) consists of some unique clauses. According to the ITT norms, if for any reason the five participating franchises are not formed and the inaugural edition is not organized, all the media rights shall stand terminated. This will be followed by rebidding after the championship is scheduled next year.

However, a senior BCCI official addressed the media and stated that these are just the legal clauses that need to be considered before awarding the media rights. He further added a sigh of relief by claiming that the full-fledged preparations for the Women’s IPL have already kick-started. But another challenge that still hinders the broadcaster’s bids is that the participation of franchises remains at their discretion and they may pull out as per their choice.

Meanwhile, the broadcasters will be aiming to quote a decent price in view of the men’s edition being scheduled right after and low viewership. It will be interesting to see the auctions as the highest bidder will likely be offered the media rights.

Women’s IPL 2023 Auctions

On the other hand, the BCCI has already invited applications to own franchises. The player auctions will likely be conducted by the end of this month. Heavyweight overseas players will likely enroll in the cash-rich league and the fans will be highly anticipating their stars to play in the edition. Existing franchises in the men’s edition including Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, and Kolkata Knight Riders are likely interested to own a franchise.