bcci: BCCI floats tenders for Women’s IPL, plans first edition in March

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has floated tenders inviting bids from reputed entities for owning teams in the Women’s Indian Premier League (WIPL). The BCCI is looking to hold the first edition of WIPL in March this year. The cricket board said that the tender, which will be made available on receipt of payment of a non-refundable fee of Rs 5 lakh, will be available for purchase till January 21, 2023.

Last month, the BCCI released a tender for media rights to the WIPL Seasons 2023-2027. The bid submission for the WIPL media rights is on January 12.

IPL chairman Arun Dhumal said there is a lot of interest among corporate houses to own a WIPL team. “Given the interest in the WIPL, we are hopeful of getting a good set of franchise owners. There is a lot of interest in owing a WIPL team from existing IPL franchises as well as new players,” he told ET.

The WIPL will initially consist of five teams with plans to add one more team for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. The league will comprise of a minimum of 22 matches in each season which is expected to increase to 33 to 34 matches for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. A source close to the development said that the BCCI has not set any base price for the WIPL franchises in order to allow price discovery. It has also kept the choice of cities open for prospective buyers.

“The net worth criteria prescribed in the tender will ensure that only serious players can participate in the bidding,” the source stated.