In a landmark moment for women’s cricket in India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) formally announced five teams for the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) on Wednesday.
The Adani Group made the biggest bid for the team from Ahmedabad, splurging Rs 1289 crore.
The four others with the biggest bids are Indiawin Sports Private Limited (the Reliance group subsidiary), Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals and Capri Global.
Here is everything you need to know about the five franchises which will participate in the Women’s Premier League scheduled to be held in March.
AHMEDABAD - ADANI SPORTSLINE PVT LTD - INR 1289 CR
Adani Sportsline Private Limited, owned by Gautam Adani, India’s richest man, won the bid to own the Ahmedabad franchise with the highest bid of Rs. 1289 CR.
After missing out on a team in the men’s Indian Premier League, the Adani group broke the bank for a franchise in the Women’s Premier League.
This is not the group’s first foray into sports. The group owns a kabaddi team, a kho kho team, and a boxing team all named Gujarat Giants.They also run a nationwide programme called #Garvhai, which claims to nurture India’s next generation of sporting champions and support them on their path to represent India.
They also acquired the franchise rights in the UAE’s International League T20 - Gulf Giants - along with conducting a full marathon every year in Ahmedabad. The Adani Group also has a franchise in Legends League Cricket, called Gujarat Giants.
They’ve decided to go with the same name for their WPL franchise too.
MUMBAI - INDIAWIN SPORTS PVT LTD - INR 912.99 CR
IndiaWin Sports Private Limited won the bid for the Mumbai franchise with the second-highest bid of Rs. 912.99 CR. The company is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, owned by Indian billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani.
The Ambani family-owned group has a huge presence in the sports industry, especially in cricket. They own India’s most successful franchise - Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. It recently also bought MI Cape Town and MI Emirates in the South African and UAE franchise cricket leagues respectively.
Ambani-run Football Sports Development Limited launched the Indian Super League - a franchise football tournament in 2014 with the aim of attracting investment and big global names to improve the overall quality of football in India.
Nita Ambani, co-owner of Mumbai Indians and wife of Mukesh Ambani, led a successful bid to host the International Olympic Committee session in Mumbai after a gap of 40 years.
BENGALURU - ROYAL CHALLENGERS SPORTS PVT LTD - INR 901 CR
Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited won the bid to acquire the Bengaluru franchise at the bidding amount of Rs. 901 CR.
The group is a 100 per cent subsidiary of United Spirits, which owns Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL Led by director Prathmesh Mishra, the group spent 24.55 per cent of the total bidding valuation to win a team in WPL.
United Spirits is India’s leading beverage alcohol company and it is acquired by Diageo group. The company manufactures, sells and distributes premium beverages.
DELHI - JSW GMR CRICKET PVT LTD- INR 801 CR
JSW GMR Cricket Private Limited (formerly known as ‘GMR Sports Private Limited’) paid 801 crores to win the bid of Delhi in the WPL.
As per the official report of GMR group, it was Incorporated in 2008 and owns a number of franchises in different sports - The capital’s IPL franchise, Delhi Capitals, marked the beginning of this venture, followed by the Uttar Pradesh (UP) franchise of the Pro Kabaddi league - UP Yoddhas and kho kho team Telugu Yoddhas in Ultimate Kho Kho.
JSW also owns a kabaddi team - Haryana Steelers, a football franchise - Bengaluru FC, and also runs a sports high-performance centre in Bellary, Karnataka called the Inspire Institure of Sports.
In cricket, this corporate coalition has also acquired the Dubai Capitals franchise in the recently launched International League T20 in UAE. GMR also owns a franchise in Legends League Cricket called India Capitals.
LUCKNOW - CAPRI GLOBAL HOLDINGS PVT LTD - INR 757 CR
Capri Global Holdings Private Limited (CGCL), a Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) won the bid for Lucknow for a bid worth Rs.757 CR.
Capri Global won the Lucknow franchise with the lowest bid amongst the top five bidders, accounting for 16.20 per cent of the total bid valuation. The group had also unsuccessfully bid for a team in the men’s IPL in 2021.
This isn’t their first sports franchise ownership though. Capri Global owns Sharjah Warriors in the International League T20, UAE’s league tournament. The group also partners the kabaddi franchise Bengal Warriors in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) and owns Rajasthan Warriors in the Ultimate Kho Kho (UKK) league.
Founded by Rakesh Sharma, CGCL has a presence primarily across verticals like micro, small & medium Enterprises (MSME) loans and home loans. The company is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE).
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