BCCI floats ‘Invitation to Tender’ to own and operate a Women’s IPL team

BCCI aims to hold the WIPL in March 2023.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the release of the tender for the right to own and operate a team in the inaugural Women’s Indian Premier League (WIPL) season later this year.

The BCCI is expected to hold the WIPL in March 2023, with BCCI tweaking the women's domestic calendar to accommodate the tournament by advancing the season which generally stretches from November to April, to end by February this year.

Early last month, the BCCI also floated the tender to invite media houses to bid for the broadcast rights of the competition that has been long in demand in Indian cricket.

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“The detailed terms and conditions governing the tender process including eligibility requirements, process for submissions of bids, proposed team’s rights and obligations, etc. are contained in the ‘Invitation to Tender’ (“ITT”) which will be made available on receipt of payment of a non-refundable fee of INR 5,00,000 (Rupees Five Lakhs Only) plus any applicable Goods and Services Tax. The procedure to procure the ITT documents is enlisted in Annexure A to this document. The ITT will be available for purchase till January 21, 2023,” BCCI statement on January 3 read.

It further read, “Any interested party wishing to submit a bid is required to purchase the ITT. However, only those satisfying the eligibility criteria set out in the ITT and subject to the other terms and conditions set out therein, shall be eligible to bid. It is clarified that merely purchasing this ITT does not entitle any person to bid.”

Jay Shah had said last summer that the BCCI is in talks with other boards so that a window can be created for the WIPL when all the top players can feature in the tournament.

(BCCI inputs)