Voot-Owner Viacom18 Awarded INR 951 Cr For Media Rights To Women’s IPL

• ByStartupStory     |    January 17, 2023

The BCCI announced on Monday that Viacom 18 had won the closed-bid auction to get the media rights for the 2018 Women’s IPL for a staggering Rs 951 crore for five years, besting competitors Sony and Disney Star.

On Monday, the cricket body held an auction for the T20 league in Mumbai. The first week of March is probably when the inaugural Women’s IPL will start. There will be five competing teams, and Mumbai will host each match.

The three categories of worldwide rights are linear (TV), digital, and combined (TV and digital), and Viacom 18 won the combined rights in its successful bid.
Separate rights are auctioned across areas for the men’s IPL.

According to BCCI president Roger Binny, “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.

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“It was only apt to get our own women’s T20 league and give the fans more of women’s cricket.” According to BCCI secretary Jay Shah, the fee per match will come to Rs 7.09 crore for the next five years.

“The broadcasters play a key role in taking the game to a wider audience and their active interest in the league is a clear indication that the Women’s Indian Premier League is headed in the right direction. The per-match valuation of Rs INR 7.09 crore is something that has never previously been registered for a women’s game,” Shah said.

“I congratulate Viacom18 for securing both the TV and digital rights with a combined bid of INR 951 crores and welcome them on Board. The journey has well and truly started and we will take another major step this month when the five franchises are announced.” During a three-day auction held in June 2022, Disney Star retained the TV rights for a five-year period beginning in 2023 while Viacom18 got the IPL internet rights for Rs 23,758 crore.

IPL governing council chairman Arun Singh Dhumal said: “The faith of all our bidders for this process also testifies that they see value in investing in this property which will only be growing with each passing year.

“Women’s cricket has shown immense growth in the past few years and our own T20 league, it only solidifies our approach towards women’s cricket and the potential it has for growth in India.”

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