BCCI invites bids for 2 new IPL teams
MUMBAI: The 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League will feature 10 teams. Eight months after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) gave its approval to add two more teams to the league, bids have been invited through a tender process on Tuesday.
“The Governing Council of the IPL invites bids to acquire the right to own and operate new teams proposed to be introduced to take part from IPL 2022 season,” a BCCI statement said.
The Invitation to Tender has been made available for purchase till October 5.
Though the bidding regulations have not been made public yet, it is learnt that the base price for the new teams has been set at ₹2,000 crore. This is a big jump from the ₹850 crore that Sunrisers Hyderabad, the last team to join IPL via a tender process, paid in 2012. The base amount reflects the latest benchmark set by Rajasthan Royals, who are known to be valued at ₹1,850 crore after adding new investors—us-based Redbird Capital Partners, a couple of months back. While the Royals don’t generate as much revenue as some of the more successful teams, a former IPL official who did not wish to be named said that the notional value of leading teams like Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders would all be upwards of ₹2,500 crore.
“We are expecting bids above ₹3,000 crore for each team,” a BCCI official who did not wish to be named said. “IPL is ripe for expansion. We have carefully built the brand over the years.
Just the way the existing franchises have moved to profit making, so will the new teams. IPL is a property to stay invested in.” quoted earlier said.
BCCI has made the Invitation to Tender more stringent this time. It is learnt that only companies with a turnover upwards of ₹3,000 crore will be allowed to bid. Another condition that has been added to the bid document is a limit on not more than three businesses to come together to form a consortium.
In 2010, Sahara Warriors and Kochi Tuskers were added to the IPL fold for a massive ₹1,700 and ₹1,500 crore, respectively. While Sahara withdrew after a year citing bank guarantee disputes with BCCI, the little-known Kochi consortium of seven separate investors remained neck deep in controversy. This team too lasted one season after their contract was terminated by the BCCI, which was then legally challenged. An arbitration award has gone against the board. The new teams are expected to be announced soon after scrutiny, well in time for the mega auction that is likely to be held in December.
The Ahmedabad-based Adani Group, who lost out in 2010, are favourites to bid again. The RP Sanjiv Goenka group, who owned the Rising Pune Supergiants in 2016-17 also want to make a re-entry. The newly refurbished Narendra Modi cricket stadium in Ahmedabad and the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana stadium in Lucknow are favourites to become home bases of the two new teams.
The BCCI has a set list of cities from where the winning bidders get to pick one they want to call home. Apart from Ahmedabad and Lucknow that list includes Pune, Visakhapatnam, Guwahati and Cuttack among others.