Viacom 18 wins media rights for Women's IPL

In what comes as a significant development, Viacom 18 has now won the media rights for the women's IPL for a period of five years (2023-2027), having already bagged the digital rights for the forthcoming Men's Indian Premier League cycle. Viacom, for the Women's IPL, has committed INR 951 crore, which translates roughly to INR 7.09 crore per game. The auction for the broadcast rights was conducted earlier today in Mumbai.

Jay Shah, Secretary of the BCCI, made the official announcement on Twitter and labeled the broadcast deal 'massive' for Women's Cricket. The media rights, Shah said, 'marks another historic mandate' for Women's cricket and labeled the same a 'decisive step for the empowerment of women's cricket' in the country.

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

"Congratulations @viacom18 for winning the Women’s @IPL media rights. Thank you for your faith in @BCCIand @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," Shah tweeted.

"After pay equity, today's bidding for media rights for Women's IPL marks another historic mandate. It's a big and decisive step for the empowerment of women's cricket in India, which will ensure the participation of women of all ages. A new dawn indeed!."

In a closed-bid auction that was held in Mumbai, Viacom 18 emerged winners after out-bidding Disney Star, Sony and Zee, among other competitors. The rights were sold globally and they comprised three categories, namely linear (Television), digital and combined (Television and digital).

While the WIPL franchises will be unveiled in just over a week's time, on January 25th, the inaugural edition of the competition is expected to be played in March.

In a press release by the Board, Roger Binny, the President, said, "I would like to congratulate Viacom18 for bagging the media rights for Women’s IPL for the period of 5 years. 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."

"It was only apt to get our own women’s T20 league and give the fans more of women’s cricket. I would also like to congratulate the BCCI leadership and its workforce for a successful media rights process and wish them the very best for the first edition of the Women’s IPL,” he concluded.