Women’s Premier League (WPL) was held for the first time this year. As the interest around the league has been seen among cricket lovers, the audience wants to see this cricket league from a more successful point of view.

The date and venue of the second edition of the league is also expected to be announced soon.

The auction of cricketers for the next edition of the Women’s Premier League will be held in Mumbai on Saturday. On December 7, The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) formed a separate committee for WPL.

An eight-member committee headed by its 36th president Roger Binny, has been formed to strengthen the growth of the Women’s Premier League (WPL).

International cricket star and cricket coach, Binny is said to be the chairperson of the panel. BCCI secretary Jai Shah has been named as its convener. Other members of the committee include IPL Chairperson Arun Dhumal, BCCI Vice-President Rajeev Shukla, BCCI treasure Ashish Sheller and others.

The Indian women’s cricket team has produced some world-class cricketers over the years. Women cricketers like Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj have associated themselves with the WPL as a part of the Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Giants coaching staff respectively.

Viewership of WPL and IPL viewers

The 2023 WPL final saw a complete sell-out of tickets within hours, a rarity in Indian women’s cricket. ITW Consulting Co-Founder Bhairav Shanto said that WPL viewership was very strong among rural audiences.

The WPL gained popularity among viewers who had not previously been consumers of women’s sports. Female viewership has increased compared to 47% viewership of IPL.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) introduced free entry for women spectators to the games, while for the final, male fans had to pay Rs 250 for tickets, Compared to IPL tickets costing Rs 3,500 or more which is relatively nominal.

According to data from BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council), the first 14 matches reached 67.8 million.

The men’s IPL reached an average of over 400 million Santosh N, managing partner of D and P Advisory, also claimed that comparing the current valuation of WPL with the value of the 2007-08 IPL would make more sense.

The live final match of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) between eventual champions Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals noticed over 10 million new viewers on JioCinema on the final day.

JioCinema streamed the tournament free as the official digital streaming partner, clocked the highest watch-time per user (more than 50 minutes per match).

1.2 lakh people bought tickets to watch the match at the stadium. IPL 2023 of this season were streamed live on JioCinema. JioCinema noted a record 44.9 crore viewers. Star Sports Network attracted 505 million viewers.

IPL viewership stopped at 427.1 billion per minute on Disney star. The broadcaster also noticed a 32 percent increase in television ratings compared to the 2022 IPL.

Main objectives for the Comitee

Seeing this success of WPL in its first year, the commitee has been formed to take it forward.

The BCCI has said that this committee has been formed to ensure the overall development of the Women’s Premier League. As the ICC Governing Council is responsible for running the IPL, the function of this committee can be similar. But the presence of more heavyweights in this committee than the IPL Governing Council means that this committee is more important than the Governing Council.

From women’s premier league( WPL) franchises, broadcasters to cricketers, this committee will take appropriate steps on how to make this tournament more popular and attractive. At the top of which is BCCI president Roger Binny.

This committee will collaborate with stakeholders, players and fans to create a competitive environment around the WPL.