Mumbai: BCCI The blueprint for the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been prepared. Two new franchises, player retention, a mega auction, an increase in salary purses and a fresh media rights tender are among the plans waiting to be unraveled between August 2021 and January 2022.
The cricket board has finally made up its mind to include two new franchises in the league. A tender document for the same will be brought out in mid-August and after mandatory scrutiny, bids will be opened in mid-October, timing of the IPL-Phase 2 final in the UAE.
Kolkata-based RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group based out of Kolkata; Adani Group is headquartered in Ahmedabad; Aurobindo Pharma Limited The torrent group operating out of Hyderabad and out of Gujarat is learned to show interest. Similarly, there are some other corporate entities and a few private equity and investment advisory firms that are currently busy studying this space closely.
The BCCI is set to increase the salary purse from Rs 85 crore to Rs 90 crore, which means adding Rs 50 crore to the total salary pool (among 10 franchises). The franchisee will have to compulsorily spend 75% of the allocated purse. Over the next three years, the purse will increase from Rs 90 crore to Rs 95 and eventually to Rs 100 crore before the 2024 season.
Player retention has also been finalized. Each franchise will be allowed to retain four players, but subject to the following conditions – they can either retain three Indian and one foreign player or two Indian and two foreign players.
Franchisees retaining players deduct the specified amount from their salary purse before going to auction. The pay cut in the current framework has been prescribed as follows: Rs 15 crore, Rs 11 crore and Rs 7 crore if three players are retained; Rs 12.5 crore and Rs 8.5 crore for retaining two players; And Rs 12.5 crore if only one player is retained.
With an increase of Rs 5 crore (85 to 90) in the salary purse, and BCCI now allowing franchises to retain a maximum of four players, this structure may change slightly going forward.
“Some players might like the idea of not retaining and would like to go to the auction pool. This is because the salary purse has increased and two new teams are being added. Hence, there will be a rush to grab the talent. Expect some prominent Indian cricketers to put their names up for auction,” say people who keep an eye on the developments.
And finally, the BCCI is planning a big media-rights auction in late 2021 as well. With the month of March now potentially available to them for the start of IPL 2023 – this will help the board to accommodate 90- plus matches between 10 teams – the value of media rights to the board and the industry going forward expected to increase by at least 25%.
The pandemic has seen a huge growth in the OTT space as compared to traditional linear broadcasting and this is the only factor that will guide the rights industry in the coming months.
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