RCB’s WPL win, and the continued success of the MI and DC women’s sides, is a win for the ‘one club, two teams’ approach to the development of women’s sports. For now.
A triumphant Smriti Mandhana stood beside Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli. The leaders of the newly renamed Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the faces of the franchise, standing on an equal platform, enveloped by the roar of adoring fans.
The RCB Unbox event usually serves to launch the men’s IPL campaign. But this, two days after the team won the second edition of the Women’s Premier League, and three days before they began their 17th attempt at winning the Indian Premier League, was the perfect advertisement for a ‘one club, two teams’ vision.
England and RCB’s Kate Cross said on her No Balls podcast after the WPL final that the owner “got a text from Virat saying the girls must come to this (Unbox), we need to honour the girls”. And so they did.
Here was a joyous example of fandom built by the men’s team of a club embracing their women’s team. The fans had sold out games at the Chinnaswamy stadium and were here for the victory lap. On the day of the final, firecrackers had lit up the Bengaluru sky, defying the local sound pollution regulations as well as the traditional pall of disappointment the city is all too used to during T20 league finals. Celebrations had found voice in impromptu bike convoys. Little boys whose new favourite player was Richa Ghosh, danced and whistled when she hit the winning runs.
Here was management that gave their women’s team the space to follow their vision and the resources to build that culture. Here was the men’s team that shared their platform.
And here was the women’s team that had brought so much joy and value to the fans and the RCB brand. For 16 years, RCB has been built on unwavering belief (ee sala, this time …) and a healthy dose of humour (mundin sala, next time …). Now, finally, validation.
In a club documentary of the WPL campaign, the top brass called the fans’ support “gender agnostic”. Mandhana spoke of the ee sala sentiment following her around the world. Throwaway statements in a larger story, but revealing of the significance of having the women’s and men’s programmes under one umbrella.
When it comes to one club, two teams in Indian cricket, we’re still learning the language and the rules. Was it RCB’s first win in two years or first win in 16? Should the women carry the baggage of the men’s team? Would they have sold out stadiums if not for the RCB colours they wear? Would the women have been part of Unbox if they hadn’t been as successful? Can fans get SM18 RCB shirts as easily as VK18? Also, why is the WPL marketing campaign insisting on calling them ‘queens’ rather than ‘champions’? That’s sexist, right? Is it also sexist to call them ‘our girls’? Because ‘ladies first’ jokes aren’t that much better.
But the gripes about casual sexism are for another day. For now, we savour the moment. Because what we saw with RCB is what many hoped the WPL would bring to the women’s game.
When the WPL was just an idea, one hypothetical was whether the women’s teams should be tied to men’s IPL franchises, be independent franchises, or be owned by the BCCI itself. League competitions around the world had trialled versions of all of these.
Ultimately, we got a hybrid model: Three franchises were associated with men’s IPL teams, two weren’t IPL owners, but had multi-sport, multi-club ownership experience. The mix offered a half-chance to see what kind of franchise would be more successful.
The expectation from ‘one club, two teams’ franchises was that the women’s teams would benefit from brand recognition and loyalty, investment, infrastructure, and management processes honed by years of league experience. They’d have not only a strong foundation but also a decorated plinth from which to take off.
The teams, for their part, could gain some goodwill and access new sponsorship categories. Which is why we see more beauty and jewellery brands on jerseys, for instance.
This has indeed played out with RCB, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals.
The scepticism of such models, though, is born out of historical injustice. For years, across sports, women’s teams have been treated like second-class citizens by their clubs. Think budgets, personnel, training schedules, grounds and dressing room access. The true drawing power of the women is never realised, because nobody ever really tries. Gender diversity is seen as being forced on the club by governing bodies, which are dominated by men, and the women’s programme is seen as a charity project.
Fortunately, nothing suggests that WPL teams have faced such neglect. In fact, the noise around Mandhana and co., and the success of MI and DC, makes the case for one club, two teams.
For now.
In the larger picture, the appeal for women’s teams to be independent from men’s sides is strong. Such teams get a blank slate: None of the legacy, but also none of the burden. Instead of a readymade fandom, likely dominated by male fans of the male team, women’s teams get to create a new, more diverse audience, with new motivations and attracting new sponsorship categories. Their board rooms aren’t usually full of men. And there’s no question of ever being de-prioritised in decision making.
“The women’s game is like a start-up … and that requires a different skillset,” Victoire Cogevina Reynal, football and tech entrepreneur, has said in interviews. Reynal’s Mercury/13 group is rare in that it aims to invest solely in women’s football clubs, “based on the fundamental principle that women’s football is a different game, and fans want a different experience”.
The recognition that women’s sport has different needs and market potential has led to several interesting female-forward projects in recent times: a stadium in Kansas built exclusively for women’s sport, women’s football in the UK breaking away from FA to be run by a new, independent entity, women’s multi-club investment firms, potential unbundling of broadcast deals ….
The good thing is that in its early days, the WPL teams needn’t commit to any one way. There’s scope for experimentation. One day the focus will shift to issues such as pay parity, equality in communications, branding, ticketing and scheduling, and gender-responsive budgeting – but that is not today.
The ideal will be for the women’s teams to develop their own identity, while enhancing the parent brand. The goal may not even be profitability – success may be found in reach, participation numbers and diverse audiences.
As long as the women, the girls and the ladies of the WPL feel at home, and celebrated.
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