The inaugural season of the Women’s IPL will feature five franchises and the Board for Cricket Control in India (BCCI) ended up earning $572.5 million for their sales. Adani Sportsline became the highest bidder for the Ahmedabad franchise with $158 million while the other teams will be from Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow and Bengaluru. According to the cricket governing body, the amount paid for the five teams eclipsed that which was paid for the teams in the first edition of the Indian Premier League.
“Today is a historic day in cricket as the bidding for teams of inaugural #WPL broke the records of the inaugural Men’s IPL in 2008! Congratulations to the winners as we garnered Rs.4669.99 Cr in total bid. This marks the beginning of a revolution in women’s cricket and paves the way for a transformative journey ahead not only for our women cricketers but for the entire sports fraternity,” Shah wrote.
The cost of the other four teams were – $112 million for Mumbai, $110.4 million for Bengaluru, $99.3 million for Delhi and $92.7 million for Lucknow.
Here’s a look at how much the franchises went for ahead of IPL 2008 –
Mumbai Indians – The franchise was bought by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance India Limited for $111.9 million making them the costliest side in 2008.
Chennai Super Kings – The Chennai-based franchise attracted a lot of attention from various top companies but was ultimately bought by India Cements at a cost of $91 million.
Royal Challengers Bangalore – The second-highest bid for any franchise came for RCB with Vijay Mallya’s United Breweries group shelling out a massive $111.6 million.
Delhi Daredevils – The GMR Group picked up the Delhi-based franchise for $84 million.
Deccan Chargers Hyderabad – The team which is now known as Sunrisers Hyderabad started its journey as Deccan Chargers with Deccan Chronicle paying $107 million for the franchise.
Kolkata Knight Riders – Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment paid $75.09 crore for the Kolkata-based franchise.
Rajasthan Royals – The Jaipur-based team was bought by a consortium led by Emerging Media for a price of USD 67 million.
Kings XI Punjab– Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia, Karan Paul, and Dabur’s Mohit Burman came together to acquire the franchise now known as Punjab Kings for $76 million.
NOTE: The above figures were not adjusted for inflation.
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