Former IPL chairman Lalit Modi says women’s cricket could become the world’s second-biggest sporting property, with WPL franchises worth billions within 15 years.
RCB WPL team and Lalit Modi. (Photo: IANS/Twitter/@LalitKModi)
Former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi has predicted a massive financial future for women’s cricket, saying individual franchises could be worth billions of dollars within the next 15 years.
Speaking to ANI in London, the 62-year-old sports administrator said the rapid growth of women’s cricket, driven by the Women’s Premier League (WPL), is putting the sport on course to become one of the biggest sporting properties in the world.
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“It is also going to go to another level. Amazingly, Indian cricket is going to get better. Women’s cricket, the crowds are filling up.
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“What the men’s IPL was 20 years ago, women’s cricket has reached that level already. Mr. Adani paid ₹1,600 crore for a women’s team (Gujarat Giants). Conversely, we only got around $100 million or ₹400 crore in season one of the men’s IPL for the Mumbai Indians. So on its very debut, women’s cricket hit ₹1,600 crore,” he said.
While acknowledging that women’s franchises still have a long way to go before matching the valuation of men’s IPL teams, Modi believes the growth trajectory is far steeper than what the men’s league experienced after its launch in 2008.
“Women’s cricket is going to go to another level,” Lalit Modi said. “What the men’s IPL was 20 years ago, women’s cricket has reached that level already. Mr Adani paid ₹1,600 crore for a women’s team (Gujarat Giants). Conversely, we only got around $100 million or ₹400 crore in season one of the men’s IPL for the Mumbai Indians. So on its very debut, women’s cricket hit ₹1,600 crore.”
He estimated that women’s cricket would take around 15 to 20 years to fully realise its commercial and viewership potential.
“You will see, unlike any other sporting league in the world, in any sport, that women’s cricket will become number two in the world, and after IPL, men’s cricket. And in terms of viewership, you will see that women’s cricket will also, but it will take, I will tell you, take another 20 years. Okay, it has taken 18 years for the IPL to reach where it is today, with a $2 billion team. And women’s cricket has just begun, but 15 years from now, Women’s cricket will also be worth billions of dollars for each team. But it will be great for the game.”
The recent commercial success of the WPL, along with India winning its first Women’s Cricket World Cup on home soil, has further strengthened confidence in the future of the women’s game.
Modi also reflected on his tenure as BCCI vice-president in 2006, highlighting his role in integrating women’s cricket into the board’s structure following the merger of the Women’s Cricket Association of India (WCAI) with the BCCI.
“I was the one who introduced women to the constitution and the BCCI,” Lalit Modi stated. “We started to achieve that in my time alone when we started having women coming and women’s cricket starting out there… I did not think the IPL ecosystem would be ready for a women’s league for 10 or 12 years, but they have done it now, and they have achieved it.”
While praising India’s thriving cricket ecosystem, Modi reiterated concerns about the financial sustainability of international cricket outside India.
He again called for the abolition of bilateral One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and proposed franchise-backed, IPL-style Test cricket as a way to support struggling cricket boards around the world.
“I am saying that test matches on bilateral will die. One Day should die. The test should survive. The test is a very important part. Unfortunately, it will die if it IS not taken over by club cricket because there is no viewership on a global level. So it will be a loss leader. I am not saying everything has to make money. So you can…develop players for the T20. You do not have to have profit in everything. You have got to do something for the game too. So, as far as the BCCI is concerned, it is a non-profit organisation. But every other country has to make some money. If they do not make money, cricket will die. Sri Lankan cricket is crying. Pakistan is crying. They have no money. Bangladesh is crying. They have no money. If India does not go to New Zealand, they die. If you do not go to the West Indies, they die. If you do not go to South Africa, they die,” he concluded.
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