The media rights value will be an indicator of the league’s potential, Dabur India chairman and Punjab Kings IPL franchise co-owner Mohit Burman said. “As far as we are concerned, we will wait till the media rights are out. That then becomes an indicator of how it will look from a business standpoint,” he said, adding: “Women’s cricket is getting popular, and this is in the right direction to start a league to get more interest.”
Industry watchers said the WIPL media rights could see a three-way fight among Viacom18, Disney Star and Zee Entertainment Enterprises, which is in the process of merging with Culver Max Entertainment (Sony).
The submission of bid documents for media rights will take place on January 12.
Sports management company ITW Universe’s cofounder Bhairav Shanth said the media rights sale would be a great test to gauge the popularity of WIPL.
“The revenue from media rights is a key component of the revenue franchises will earn, therefore, it will set the tone for the sale of teams. They are likely to be aggressively valued, because broadcasters will look to place themselves in a prime position to capture and grow this audience,” he said. The
Indian cricket board has floated tenders for selling media rights and owning franchises in WIPL. The media rights tender was issued in December while the tender for the sale of franchises came out this week.
