The Reliance Industries Ltd-controlled-broadcaster will pay a per-match fee of ₹7.09 crore for the five-year duration of the rights for the women’s T20 cricket league, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Monday.

In a tweet, BCCI secretary Jay Shah called it “a massive win for women’s cricket”. “I am really thrilled that we have had such an encouraging response for a league that will revolutionise women’s cricket not just in India but across the globe,” Shah said in a statement later. “This is a commitment I had made to the Board and our women cricketers, and today, we have taken one big leap.”

In all, eight tender documents were picked up. Others who bought the document but did not bid included broadcasters Sony Pictures Networks India and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, and Dream11-owned sports streaming platform Fancode.

Viacom18 is expected to lose anywhere between ₹300-500 crore over the five-year period, according to an industry analyst who declined to be named.

But advertising expert Sandeep Goyal, managing director of Rediffusion, said the Women’s IPL should not have issues selling their ad inventory.

“Viacom18 is likely to make money as a 30-second ad spot would work out to about ₹4-4.5 lakh during the matches. Getting this kind of money is not going to be a tall order as it is just one-third of what the men’s IPL ad spot costs at ₹15 lakh per 30 seconds. If Kabaddi can make money, this will not likely be an issue. The real question to answer will be how will they get more and more women to watch the sport,” he asked.

This is the first time BCCI auctioned the media rights first, as it would allow the team owners to figure out their business model based on projected revenues from the media rights deal. The BCCI will share 80% of the revenues from the media rights as well as the ground sponsorships among the five teams equally.

On 25 January, the BCCI will auction the five teams for WIPL, and the inaugural season is likely to begin in early March. The first three seasons will have 22 matches, while after the third season, one more team will be added to the tourney, taking the total number of matches to 34.

It is learned that 30 companies, including owners of all the 10 IPL franchises, have picked up the tender document for the WIPL franchises.

Joy Bhattacharjya, CEO of the Prime Volleyball League and cricket analyst, said it is expected that Viacom18 will get access to a large user base which they can later monetise. “They have deep enough pockets and don’t have an RoI-driven approach at the moment and have a belief in their product and that they will eventually be a winner,” he said.

Bhattacharjya added that IPL itself attracted a lot of women and children when it first began, especially during the summer months when a lot of advertisers were looking at getting the attention of the consumer in categories like cold drinks and whitegoods like air conditioners and refrigerators. “And so getting women viewers should not be a big problem,” he said.

Viacom18 also owns the men’s IPL digital rights, which it acquired for ₹23,758 crore, while Disney Star retained TV rights for ₹23,575 crore for a five-year period starting 2023 during a three-day auction in June last year.

On 25 January, the BCCI will auction the five teams for WIPL, and the inaugural season is likely to begin in early March. The first three seasons will have 22 matches, while after the third season, one more team will be added to the tourney, taking the total number of matches to 34.

It is learned that 30 companies, including owners of all the 10 IPL franchises, have picked up the tender document for the WIPL franchises.

Joy Bhattacharjya, CEO of the Prime Volleyball League and cricket analyst, said it is expected that Viacom18 will get access to a large user base which they can later monetise. “They have deep enough pockets and don’t have an RoI-driven approach at the moment and have a belief in their product and that they will eventually be a winner,” he said.

Bhattacharjya added that IPL itself attracted a lot of women and children when it first began, especially during the summer months when a lot of advertisers were looking at getting the attention of the consumer in categories like cold drinks and whitegoods like air conditioners and refrigerators. “And so getting women viewers should not be a big problem,” he said.

Viacom18 also owns the men’s IPL digital rights, which it acquired for ₹23,758 crore, while Disney Star retained TV rights for ₹23,575 crore for a five-year period starting 2023 during a three-day auction in June last year.