The auctions of the first-ever Women’s Premier League (WPL) are grabbing the headlines. With little over a week to go for WPL auctions, players who will be involved in the Women’s T20 World Cup will face an anxious wait as they find out their fate. Ahead of the big auctions, Bangladesh women cricketers have put forward their names for the marquee event. Nigar Sultana, Salma Khatun, Rumana Ahmed, Jahanara Alam, Nahida Akter, and Ritu Moni are some of the big names who have thrown their names in the auction pool. The auctions of the Women’s Premier League 2023 will take place on Monday (February 13).
A pursue of Rs 12 crore each will be allotted to each team of the Women’s Premier League. The first season of the Women’s Premier League is expected to start in March, before the start of the men’s Indian Premier League. The Women’s Premier League 2023 auctions can be watched live on Sports 18 TV. Viacom 18 has won the media rights for the inaugural women's IPL for a period of five years following the auction in Mumbai. The company will pay INR 951 crore (USD 116.7 million approx.) for the period - 2023 to 2027 - which BCCI secretary Jay Shah called "massive" while making the announcement on Twitter. Shah said the winning bid amount meant a per-match value of INR 7.09 crore (USD 866,000 approx.) over five years. The men's IPL, in comparison, fetched a five-year deal of INR 48,390.5 crore (USD 6.2 billion approx. at the time) in June last year with a per-match value of INR 58 crore (USD 7.43 million approx.)."After pay equity, today's bidding for media rights for Women's IPL marks another historic mandate," Shah said on Twitter. "It's a big and decisive step for empowerment of women's cricket in India, which will ensure participation of women from all ages. A new dawn indeed!"
