The Women’s IPL has generated millions of money even before the start of the tournament. It is already turning out to be a game changer not just for women’s cricket but cricket in general.
The eight founding clubs of the men’s Indian Premier League in 2008 were outsold by the five Twenty20 tournament franchises that made their debut for a combined total of over $200 million.
The WPL has already brought in a little under $700 million for India’s cricket board, including media rights for the first five seasons, making it the second most lucrative domestic women’s sport league in the world, behind US professional basketball.
“That’s an unprecedented amount of investment into the women’s game,” James Savage of the Deloitte Sports Business Group told AFP.
“That level of investment has come around because of the huge growth potential.”
The Women’s IPL would draw many fans to the stadium as well keep them glued to their televisions.
“It’s additional confirmation that… women’s sports is the next economy for sport,” said Thayer Lavielle of The Collective, the women’s division of US sports marketing agency Wasserman.
“I believe that marketers need to really start to pay attention to what satisfies us,” she told AFP.
Jay Shah, the secretary of Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) believes that there is a huge potential for the league to become the biggest sporting tournament.
“The WPL is going to revolutionise the way we look at women’s cricket. The huge success of the WPL auction has not only given an opportunity to many prospective talent to showcase their skills on the big stage but also to young budding cricketers to take centerstage on a global level. The reception from fans around the world has been overwhelmingly positive and this will only continue to grow as the league matures. The WPL will set a template for other sports to follow suit. We saw what happened with the men’s IPL and how other sporting leagues cropped up after 2008. The WPL will ensure the growth of multi-genre sport among women,” Shah told ANI.
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