BCCI Secretary Jay Shah, Tuesday, announced Indian multinational conglomerate Tata Group as the official title sponsors for the inaugural Women's Premier League beginning in Mumbai on March 4. The five WPL teams -- Mumbai Indians (MI), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Gujarat Giants (GG), UP Warriorz (UPW), Delhi Capitals (DC) -- were sold for Rs 4700 crore and sale of media rights for WPL 2023 fetched Rs 951 crore for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The inaugural edition of Women's Premier League will be played across two venues in Mumbai, Brabourne Stadium and DY Patil Stadium.
"I am delighted to announce the Tata Group as the title sponsor of the inaugural Women's Premier League (WPL)," tweeted BCCI Secretary Jay Shah. A BCCI source told PTI that Tata has secured the rights for five years.
Women's Premier League 2023, the first-ever historic season of 'women's IPL', will be played next month. The first match of WPL 2023 will be played on March 4 and final of the tournament will take place on March 26.
A total of 20 league matches and two playoff matches will be played in WPL 2023 over a period of 23 days. The tournament will feature four double headers. The first double header will be on March 5, second on March 18, third on March 20 and the fourth on March 21. WPL 2023 eliminator will be played at DY Patil Stadium on 24th March.
Five teams spent Rs 59.50 crore to acquire a mix of Indian and foreign 87 players in the WPL 2023 auction. As per the auction rules, each franchise had a limit of spending 12 crores.
India women cricket team's star opener Smriti Mandhana turned out to be the most expensive player in the WPL auction. The star batter was acquired by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for a jaw-dropping amount of INR 3.4 crore.