| MUMBAI:
Sahara Group and Rendezvous Sports World have won the rights to own two new teams
in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a combined $703 million, a record figure
that is more than what the eight original franchises had paid for.
Sahara
Adventure Sports, a part of the Sahara Group, bought the Pune team for $370 million,
paying 64 per cent higher than the floor price of $225 million and more than triple
the $111.9 million that Mukesh Ambani bid to buy the Mumbai team in 2008.
Rendezvous
Sports World won the franchise for Kochi with a $333 million bid, demonstrating
once again that the IPL has emerged as the cricket's richest property. The consortium
bid included partners Pavinee Developers, Anchor Earth, Filmwoves and Anandshah
Developers. “The
bidding was extremely competitive with winners selected from a field of five,"
said IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi. “We are extremely happy that
we have got two robust bids, it goes to show that the IPL is on the upward trend.” Among
the five bidders, the Adani Group had placed its bet for Ahmedabad for $315 million
while Videocon bid $319.90 million for Pune. Amonar had made an offer of $261.3
million. The cities on offer were Cuttack, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Dharamsala, Indore,
Visakhapatnam, Pune and Kochi. Said
Sahara corporate communications head Abhijit Sarkar, "The IPL is undoubtedly
the most ground breaking international sports development in living memory. There
is no precedent for what has been achieved by Lalit Modi and the BCCI over the
last three years and the Sahara group is immensely proud to have won the Invitation
to Tender from Pune. I can promise the people of Pune a team they will be proud
of in next year’s IPL 2011." Sahara
had bid similar amounts for three cities - Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Pune. The Group
finally selected Pune as the host city for the new franchise. Shashi
Tharoor was the brain behind Rendezvous Sports World. "Tharoor was involved
in getting people together to bid for Kochi. He is an ardent fan of cricket. His
involvement was to see a team from Kochi and that was fulfilled," Modi said
in Chennai. Tharoor
said that his role was that of a mentor and he encouraged the business houses
to think of Kerala. "All I did on my part was to offer encouragement, blessings
and expert advise when required to the bidders. Beyond that, I had no role to
play. I understand it's a business decision." Tharoor
clarified that he did not own the team, but he would "certainly give my opinion
when asked for it". The
investors of Rendezvous Sports remained a mystery. “Ours is a consortium
of number of investors but the names are confidential. I will let you know at
the right time." said Vivek Venugopal, a member of Rendezvous Sports. Though
Kerala currently does not have any cricket stadium, the Kerala Cricket Association
said it is in the process of building one. "Till that time, the bidder (Rendezvous
Sports World Ltd) will be provided with an alternative venue, anywhere in India,”
said Modi. The
IPL will now feature 10 teams from 2011 and a total of 94 games, from the existing
60 games. “The Twenty20 tournament will not see any more expansion in the
near future. In fact, I don't foresee an expansion in many, many years to come
but, then, you never know," Modi said. Now are there plans to hold the IPL
abroad in future, although we will play exhibition matches in foreign countries,"
he added. The
IPL has grown in value since its launch two years back. In its recent study, UK-based
Brand Finance had valued the IPL brand at $4.13 billion, up from $2.01 billion
in the year-ago period. | 
