|
MUMBAI:
After BCCI's Indian Premier League media rights went to the
Sony-WSG combine, the focus is now on what impact the $1.026
billion winning tender will have on the bidding for team franchises.
The
minimum bid price for the eight team franchises is $50 million
but the IPL is expecting bids to be in multiples of the reserve
price.
For
IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi, the more the number
of organisations that enter the fray, the higher the price
will go.
High
profile corporates, private equity funds and even the likes
of Bollywood badhsah Shah Rukh Khan are among those seen as
likely bidders.
Reliance
Industries, the Future group, liquor major UB Group, real
estate major DLF, cinema production and distribution major
Eros International, and Videocon Industries have reportedly
thrown their hats into the ring.
Such
is the interest that seems to be building for the team franchises,
that when the tenders are opened on 24 January, several more
than the 40 organisations (companies, funds and consortiums)
who Modi asserted had applied as of 17 January may well have
submitted bids.
IPL
will comprise 56 matches in Twenty20 format. It has already
pocketed many of the world's top cricketers like Australia's
Shane Warne and Glenn McGarth, South Africa's captain Graeme
Smith, New Zealand's Stephen Fleming and Pakistan's Mohammed
Yousuf.
IPL
will feature eight teams, with each playing home and away
games against the others. After the league matches, the top
four teams will play in the semi-finals with the grand final
scheduled towards April-end.
Each
franchise/team will have a squad of 16 players registered
with the BCCI and drawn from its central contract pool. Each
team will also feature under-21 players and those from the
BCCI's annual contract.
The
tournament will begin on April 18 and there will be 59 matches,
spread over 44 days.
Also Read:
Sony-WSG
joint bid wins IPL rights for $1 billion+
Big
names bid for IPL franchise
|
