WPL 2023: Know how much each of the 5 franchises cost

The inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) will be played from March 4 to March 26, 2023. The tournament is expected to uplift the standard of women’s cricket with its unique franchise-style league model, replicating the success of its male counterpart. In men’s cricket, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) succeeded in achieving their target of boosting the standard of the sport with the success of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

In January 2023, the IPL governing council invited bids from reputed companies to own and operate the teams in the league. On January 25, after selling the franchise rights to five investors through a tender process, the council raised a total of INR 4,669 crore. With the acquisition of franchise rights for a period of five years by multinational conglomerates, it is expected of the WPL to follow a similar success route as IPL did and return with enormous figures of positivity not just for the sport and its players, but also for the ones who invested in it.

Here is how much each of the 5 WPL franchises cost: 

5. UP Warriorz- INR 757 crore

UP Warriorz was bought by Capri Global Holdings Pvt Ltd. at INR 757 crore. The listed company has a net worth of around 5400 crores and have been an active player in the sports franchise business. After being unsuccessful in grabbing the ownership of one of the two new IPL entrants in 2022, they came back strongly to win the rights of the Lucknow-based franchise. UP Warriorz, as the franchise was eventually named, is the fourth professional sports team owned by Capri Global Holdings Pvt. Ltd. They had earlier invested in the ILT20 team Sharjah Warriors and kho-kho team Rajasthan Warriors, with minor presence in the Pro-Kabaddi League team Bengal Warriors.

Rajesh Sharma, the founder and managing director (MD) of the company, expressed his excitement and optimism, saying that the company expects the franchise to inspire young women and cricketers, particularly in Uttar Pradesh.

In the WPL auction, Warriorz's biggest buy was Deepti Sharma, whom they acquired at INR 2.6 crore. Along with Sharma, England’s Sophie Ecclestone, Australia’s Alyssa Healy, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, and South Africa’s Shabnim Ismail also got heavy sums in the auction in Mumbai. Healy has been named captain for the upcoming season whereas the team will be coached by Jon Lewis, assisted by Anju Jain.