The 2023 Indian men’s T20 League final will most likely be played on May 28, and expert’s estimate the date of starting to be around March 31. The inaugural season of the Indian Women’s T20 League will be played from March 5 to 23 and it is ready to provide entertainment with all the five teams – UP Warriorz, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The scheduling was done to fit the Women’s T20 League into the gap between the women’s T20 World Cup and the start of the men’s T20 League. The focus was to let the Indian Women’s T20 League complete around a week before the men’s T20 League tournament starts in order to let the grounds become fresh again.
The board sold the five teams for Indian Women’s T20 League at an auction in Mumbai and the owners are Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Adani Group and Capri Holdings.
Who were the major contenders?
All the big Indian broadcasters, such as Disney Star, Viacom 18, Sony and Zee, had taken part in the bidding for the Indian Women’s T20 League media rights at the auction. The board adopted a method called closed bid auction for this auction event, and announced the winner on the same day. There were talks that a total of eight potential bidders had bought the tender document in December when it was put on sale. There are three categories in the rights which will be lasting for five years, from 2023 to 2027, categories include linear TV rights, digital rights and combined TV + digital rights which are sold globally, including India.
What is the significance of media rights?
The Indian Women’s T20 League media rights are very substantial as they amount to much of the central commercial pool and the five participating teams will get 80% of their revenue from this pool. In the released tender document by the board, it was mentioned that board will distribute 80% of the commercial rights with all the five participating teams in the first 5 years, then 60% in next 5 years, and 50% afterwards. All the participating franchises will also get additional money at 80% of central licensing rights.
Where to watch the matches offline?
The games will only be played in the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The two venues that have been chosen for all the matches of Indian Women’s T20 League in Mumbai are DY Patil Stadium and Brabourne Stadium. All the fans will have to travel to the city and get their tickets in advance for their own convenience. There will be an added advantage for the Mumbai Indians side who will see all their games being played in front of the home crowd but other teams will definitely not be feeling as outsiders due to the mixed structure of each team.
Where to watch Indian Women’s T20 League online?
The media rights for the inaugural season of Women’s T20 League was won by Viacom 18 for a period of 5 years. They have paid INR 951 crore ($116.7 million) for the period of 2023-2027. From the original eight interested parties, only two had turned up at the auction held in Mumbai: Viacom 18 and Disney Star.
The winning bid amounts to INR 951 crore which means a per-match value of INR 7.09 crore ($866,000) over the period of 5 years. For reference, the men’s T20 league raised a 5-year deal of INR 48,390.5 crore ($6.2 billion) in June 2022 with a value of INR 58 crore ($7.43 million) per match.
Viacom 18 winning the auction with their massive bid means that the fans will be able to watch the women’s T20 league on Sports 18 Network TV channels like Sports 18 1 SD/HD. Women’s T20 League will also be available for the fans to watch on the Jio Cinema app and website to watch online from mobile and laptop.
