Women's Premier League (WPL): Cricket's Second-Biggest Franchise Tournament
The Women's Premier League (WPL) launched in March 2023 — India's first women's T20 franchise league, with 5 teams, INR 59.5 crore in player auction spending, and live broadcast on Sports18 and Jio Cinema. The WPL is the second-largest women's cricket tournament in the world after the Women's Big Bash League, and its investment signals women's cricket's commercial coming-of-age in India.
The Women's Premier League (WPL) was launched by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2023 — a T20 franchise tournament featuring 5 teams: Mumbai Indians Women, Delhi Capitals Women, Royal Challengers Bangalore Women, UP Warriorz, and Gujarat Giants. The inaugural WPL auction (February 2023) saw teams spend INR 59.5 crore total across the player pool, with the highest bid of INR 3.4 crore for Smriti Mandhana (Royal Challengers Bangalore Women). The 2023 WPL final was broadcast live to 25 million viewers in India — the largest women's cricket broadcast audience in Indian cricket history.
WPL Launch and Impact
The WPL's commercial significance: the 5 franchise licences were sold for a combined INR 4,669.99 crore (approximately USD 570 million), making the WPL franchise rights the most expensive women's cricket franchise rights in history by a large margin. The broadcast rights were sold for INR 951 crore for 5 years — significantly more than any previous women's cricket broadcast deal globally. The salaries paid in the WPL auction: top players (Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Nat Sciver-Brunt) earned INR 3-3.4 crore per season (approximately USD 370,000-415,000) — more than 10 times the salary available in the Women's Big Bash League. The WPL has fundamentally changed the commercial landscape of women's cricket globally.
WPL Compared to WBBL
WPL vs Women's Big Bash League (WBBL): the WBBL (Australia) has been the leading women's franchise cricket league since 2015; the WPL launched in 2023 and immediately offered higher salaries. WBBL comparison: 8 teams, Australian domestic broadcast on Channel 7 and Fox Cricket, player salaries of approximately AUD 30,000-80,000 per season (significantly less than WPL). WPL: 5 teams, broadcast to 400 million households in India, player salaries of INR 50 lakh to 3.4 crore (approximately USD 60,000-415,000). The WBBL's advantage: a longer track record (9 seasons by 2024), larger squad sizes, and the involvement of Australian state cricket in player development. The WPL's advantage: the Indian market's size and the BCCI's financial resources — the WPL can offer 5-10 times WBBL salaries to international players.
WPL and India Women's Cricket
The WPL's impact on Indian women's cricket development: the franchise system creates a domestic competition pathway that did not previously exist for young Indian women's cricketers. Before the WPL, India's domestic women's cricket was a state tournament with minimal media coverage and very low salaries. The WPL's domestic allocation (each team must include a minimum number of Indian players, and uncapped Indian players are given opportunities through the draft) creates match exposure at a high competitive level for young Indian players. The expectation: the WPL's first generation of domestic player development (2023-2028) will produce Indian women's cricketers who are technically superior to any previous generation, because they are playing T20 franchise cricket at international quality from age 18-22.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Women's Premier League (WPL) in cricket?
The Women's Premier League (WPL) is an Indian women's T20 franchise cricket league, launched by the BCCI in March 2023. It features 5 teams (Mumbai Indians Women, Delhi Capitals Women, Royal Challengers Bangalore Women, UP Warriorz, Gujarat Giants) competing in a round-robin league format followed by knockouts. The WPL is notable for its commercial scale: franchise licences sold for a combined INR 4,669 crore (approximately USD 570 million) and broadcast rights sold for INR 951 crore — the most expensive women's cricket commercial deals in history. Players earn salaries between INR 50 lakh and 3.4 crore per season.
Who won the first WPL?
Mumbai Indians Women won the inaugural Women's Premier League (WPL) in March 2023, defeating Delhi Capitals Women in the final. Mumbai Indians Women's squad included Nat Sciver-Brunt (England all-rounder, one of the highest WPL auction picks), Harmanpreet Kaur (India captain), and Amelia Kerr (New Zealand). The inaugural WPL final was played at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. Delhi Capitals Women won the 2024 WPL title — their squad was led by Meg Lanning (Australia) and Shafali Verma (India) and they were the dominant team across the 2024 group stage.
How does the WPL auction work?
The WPL auction follows a similar structure to the IPL men's auction: players enter with a base price; franchise owners bid competitively for players; the highest bidder acquires the player at the final bid price, which is deducted from the franchise's salary cap. The WPL salary cap is lower than the IPL men's cap (reflecting the different commercial scale). Teams must include a minimum number of Indian players in their squad; overseas player slots are limited (allowing a maximum of 6 overseas players per team). The auction is held separately from the men's IPL auction, typically 2-3 months before the start of the WPL season. The 2024 WPL auction introduced new player categories to ensure younger Indian women's cricketers were included in team squads.