The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday invited bids for the title sponsorship rights of the Women's Premier League (WPL) for five years from 2023 to 2027.
The development comes three days after the board announced the successful bidders to acquire the right to own and operate five franchises in the WPL.
Adani Group, through Adani Sportsline Pvt. Ltd got the Ahmedabad franchise with the highest bid of INR 1289 crore, while Indiawin Sports Pvt. Ltd acquired the Mumbai franchise with a bid of INR 912.99 crore.
Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd, JSW GMR Cricket Pvt. Ltd and Capri Global Holdings Pvt. Ltd won the rights to operate Bangalore, Delhi and Lucknow teams for INR 901 crore, 810 crore and 757 crore respectively.
"The BCCI invites bids from reputed entities for acquiring the title sponsorship rights for Women's Premier League Seasons 2023-2027," the Indian cricket board said in a statement.
"The detailed terms and conditions governing the tender process including eligibility requirements, process for submissions of bids, rights and obligations of the title sponsor, etc. are contained in the 'Request for Proposal' ("RFP") which will be made available on receipt of payment of a non-refundable fee of INR 1,00,000 (Indian Rupees One Lakh Only) plus any applicable Goods and Services Tax.
"The procedure to procure the RFP documents is enlisted in Annexure A to this notice. The RFP will be available for purchase till February 9, 2023," it added.
Any interested party wishing to submit a bid is required to purchase the ITT. However, only those satisfying the eligibility criteria set out in the ITT and subject to the other terms and conditions set out therein shall be eligible to bid.
It is clarified that merely purchasing this ITT does not entitle any person to bid. "BCCI reserves the right to cancel or amend the bidding process at any stage in any manner without providing any reason," the statement further said.
As far as media rights are concerned, Viacom18 Media Private Limited on January 16, won the consolidated bid for media rights (i.e., Global Televisions Rights and Global Digital Rights) of the WPL for the period of 2023-2027.
Viacom18 won the rights with a bid of INR 951 crore, which translates to a per-match value of INR 7.09 crore. The inaugural edition of the WPL, comprising 22 matches, is expected to be played in March, with the player auction likely to happen in February.