The Indian cricket board could soon get richer by at least Rs 5,000 crore with the addition of two new franchises during the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League.
The IPL, which is currently an eight-team tournament, will become a 10-team affair from the next edition and during a recent governing council meeting, the modalities of the bidding process were chalked out.
The BCCI on Tuesday also invited bids to own an IPL franchise with "Invitation to Tender" available for purchase till October 5.
"Any company can buy the bid document paying Rs 10 lakh. Earlier top brass was thinking about keeping the base price for two new teams at Rs 1700 crore but later it was decided to keep the base price at Rs 2,000 crore," a senior BCCI source told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
The source, who has dealt with the financial side of IPL in the past, said that the BCCI stands to gain at least Rs 5000 crore if the bids go as per plan with plenty of large business conglomerates showing active interest in bidding.
"The BCCI is expecting anything in the range of 5,000 crore if not more. There will be 74 IPL games next season and it's a win-win situation for everyone."
The BCCI statement added: "The Governing Council of the IPL invites bids to acquire the right to own and operate 1 (one) of the 2 (two) new teams proposed to be introduced to take part in the Indian Premier League from the IPL 2022 season, through a tender process.
"Any interested party wishing to submit a bid is required to purchase the ITT. However, only those satisfying the eligibility criteria set out in the ITT and subject to the other terms and conditions set out therein, shall be eligible to bid. It is clarified that merely purchasing this ITT does not entitle any person to bid," it added.
It is learnt that only companies with an annual turnover of Rs 3,000 crore will be allowed to bid for the teams.
In welcome news, the BCCI is planning to allow a consortium to bid for teams as it makes the bidding process more vibrant.
"I think more than three business entities won't be allowed to form a consortium but if three businesses come together and want to jointly bid for a team, they are welcome to do so," he said.
The venues where the new teams could be based include Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Pune.
The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, with bigger capacities, could be the choice for the fresh franchises.
Some of the names that are doing the rounds include the Adani group, RPG Sanjeev Goenka group, noted pharma company Torrent and a prominent banker who has shown an active interest in buying teams.
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