Saikiran Uppuluri
Saikiran Uppuluri
After years of the Indian women’s cricket team being overshadowed by their much more popular male counterparts, a new professional T20 league is set to catapult the nation’s female players into the spotlight. The inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) kicked off in March 2023 to much fanfare and praise for its potential to grow the game exponentially in the cricket-crazy country.
While women’s T20 franchise competitions like the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) in Australia have existed for several years, the sheer audience and commercial might of Indian cricket means the WPL promises to quickly become one of the biggest and richest women’s sports leagues in the world. The financial opportunities it provides players from earnings, endorsements, increased exposure and fan following could cause women’s cricket’s global growth to skyrocket like never before.
Modeled similarly to the wildly popular Indian Premier League (IPL) for men, the WPL features five franchise teams based in different cities that were auctioned off to various owners for massive sums – the most expensive franchise was purchased for over $110 million USD. That kind of investment speaks to the confidence in the WPL’s ability to generate huge revenues through television deals, sponsorships, merchandise and more.
In contrast, while Australia’s WBBL has cultivated some of the world’s top players and has grown in popularity over its 8 seasons, it operates on a much smaller scale. WBBL player salaries are quite modest, with the leading Australian women cricketers still needing to maintain regular jobs outside the sport. The WBBL also lacks the same wall-to-wall coverage and fanfare surrounding the men’s Big Bash League in Australia.
India has both the lucrative media market and legions of diehard cricket fans for the WPL to immediately tap into. As the first elite domestic T20 tournament for Indian women, it is sure to inspire a new generation of young girls across the country to take up cricket knowing it can now lead to a viable professional career path and financial security.
While pay equality and resource allocation compared to the men’s IPL is still a work in progress, the WPL has the potential to fundamentally shift perceptions of women’s sports in India. No longer will the country’s supremely talented female cricketers have to labor in obscurity as their skills and athleticism will be showcased on cricket’s biggest stage.
With all that the Women’s Premier League brings in funding, exposure and growth opportunities, it is primed to quickly overtake Australia’s WBBL as the premier T20 franchise competition and driving force behind the rapidly rising profile and popularity of women’s cricket around the world.
