The Women’s T20 India League has been in the news for a considerable amount of time and the hype around it is all real. The crucial efforts of the India’s board of cricket are paying off well so far and the public as well the players are all in the party, a lot of decisions and plans have been made by the board to keep things very interesting for all the parties involved. The Women’s T20 league will be a significant step towards the development of women’s cricket in India as well as all over the world.
The women’s T20 league is now the second most expensive league in the world women sports after Viacom 18 won the media rights bid with an amount of INR 951 crores. It is only behind the women’s National Basketball League in the US. With a price of INR 7.09 CR, WT20 has taken over the men’s counterpart for the most expensive property in the cricket arena in the per-game amount.
An event as big as this will always be a prize fund to encourage the development of winning team and those who come close, and thus an amount of INR 10 crore has been separated for the league’s players. There are going to be 3 winners who will receive a part of the total prize money, the first will receive the largest sum then the second will receive a smaller part and the third-placed team will receive the last pot. All player prize money is to be equally divided among the players. Read more to find out the complete details about the competition including venues, players, prize money, and more.
Women’s T20 League 2023: Start date
After the Women’s T20 World Cup, which finished on February 26, 2023 in South Africa, the WT20 League is set to start on March 4th, 2023. It has been decided that during the first three seasons of this tournament, there will only be five participating teams but more will be added later. A total of 22 matches will be played in the league stages.
Women’s T20 League 2023: Overseas Players
There is a bit of change from the male counterpart league, a total of five foreign players will be included in the starting eleven in the WT20 League as per the board rules. There is also a provision to include at least one player from Associate Nation in the starting eleven which makes it a total of five overseas players.
Women’s T20 League 2023: Prize Money
From the pool of prize money decided, the winner will be receiving a sum of INR 6 crores while the second placed team will earn INR 3 crores from the pool. The third placed team will earn the remaining INR 1 crore from the total sum. All the player prize money is to be equally divided amongst the players in the team.
Women’s T20 League 2023: Salary Caps for Players
The decision by the board on the salary cap in Women’s T20 League has been set at INR 12 crores. It has been decided that for the next four years, this fund will increase by an amount of INR 1.5 crore per year, making it reach a limit of INR 18 crores by the end of 2027.
According to this logic, the player purse would start at INR 12 crore in 2023, then increase to INR 13.5 crore next year, then INR 15 crore, INR 16.5 crore, and finally, value reaches INR 18 crore in 2027.
Women’s T20 League 2023: Venues
There are going to be only two venues in totality for the Women’s T20 League in India, both of which are in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The two venues will be South Bombay’s Brabourne Stadium and the DY Patil Stadium of Navi Mumbai. The stadiums are chosen such that all the pitches can be in fresh condition to play for in the upcoming tournaments as well.
Women’s T20 League 2023: Media rights
It was Viacom-18 Media who bagged the media rights for the first five seasons of the WT20 league. It did leave a heavy dent of INR 951 crore in their pocket thus taking the per-match value of the newly formed women’s T20 league to INR 7.9 crore. Moreover, only five teams were bought for a cumulative price tag of INR 4,666.99 crore, staggering figures with Gujarat Giant with the highest-priced one at INR1,289 crores.
