IPL: RPSG bags Lucknow franchise for record bid, CVC gets Ahmedabad team

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced two new teams - Ahmedabad and Lucknow - for the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Published : Oct 25, 2021 19:32 IST , Dubai

A total of 22 companies had bought the tender documents for Rs 10 lakh, but with the base price for the new teams has been pegged at Rs 2,000 crore, there were only 10 bids.
A total of 22 companies had bought the tender documents for Rs 10 lakh, but with the base price for the new teams has been pegged at Rs 2,000 crore, there were only 10 bids.
lightbox-info

A total of 22 companies had bought the tender documents for Rs 10 lakh, but with the base price for the new teams has been pegged at Rs 2,000 crore, there were only 10 bids.

Lucknow and Ahmedabad formally joined the Indian Premier League (IPL) bandwagon, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) awarding franchise rights on Monday. While the choice of cities by nine bidders who entered the fray was on the expected lines, there was a huge surprise with owners for the respective franchises.

While RPSG Group, the Kolkata-based business conglomerate paid a whopping sum of Rs. 7,090 crore for Lucknow, CVC Capital Partners, a European equity firm with a diverse interest in sports, pipped the favourite Adani Group in the race for the Ahmedabad franchise.

While the Adani Group submitted identical bids for Rs. 5,100 crore for Ahmedabad and Lucknow, CVC Capital submitted bids for Rs. 5,625 cr. and Rs. 5,166 cr. for Ahmedabad and Lucknow, respectively.

READ:  Intense bidding in the offing with top groups in fray

The show-stopper, however, turned out to Sanjiv Goenka-promoted group that was desperate to return to IPL glitz in full flow. As a result, while it bid Rs. 7,090 each for Lucknow and Ahmedabad, it also submitted a bid of Rs. 4,790 crore for Indore.

Being the highest bidder, the RPSG group was given the choice to opt for its preferred base. Once it went ahead with Lucknow, the CVC Capital Partners, which had submitted the bid through its subsidiary Irelia Company Pte. Ltd., was awarded the Ahmedabad-based bid being the second-highest bidder.

RPSG’s bid for Indore was the only other bid received for the other four cities - Dharamsala, Cuttack and Guwahati being others - that were also made available as a base to prospective bidders.

ALSO READ |

 

With the addition of these two new teams, the BCCI announced that the IPL will expand into a 10-team affair, with a total of 74 matches to be played in each edition.

The bids were opened in the presence of the IPL governing council members, chaired by Brijesh Patel, and the BCCI office-bearers after the technical proceedings were overseen by BCCI’s interim chief executive Hemang Amin.

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly told reporters after the proceedings were completed at Taj Dubai that the BCCI was “not surprised” with being assured of additional revenue of more than Rs. 12,500 crore over the next ten years and assured that the money will go back to Indian cricket for improvement across levels”.

The two IPL franchises, just like the original eight in 2008, have been awarded ownership rights in perpetuity with franchise fees to be paid in 10 equal annual instalments."

The Bids

* RPSG Group also submitted a bid of Rs. 4,790 cr. for Indore

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment