BCCI to take care of franchises extra cost

While teams will worry about spending more with the IPL moving out of India, sources say BCCI will take care of their cash burden

While teams will worry about spending more with the IPL moving out of India, sources say BCCI will take care of their cash burden

WHILE many Indians will be disappointed with the second Indian Premier League moving out of the country, the franchises breathed a sigh of relief after yesterday's meeting with Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner.

Neeta Ambani (left) and Vijay Mallya, owners of the Mumbai and Bangalore franchises, respectively, at the BCCI meeting yesterday.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India met with the IPL governing council and hours later, Modi met with the owners of the eight franchises and gave them two options: Cancel the IPL or take it abroad. The owners were already informed on Saturday that the chances of the IPL shifting abroad were very high.

With a lot of money at stake, the franchises unanimously agreed to organising the second edition outside India.

"Money is certainly an issue and we never considered the option of not having an IPL. Also, after a successful inaugural season, it is important to build on the momentum. We might not be able to do it as successfully now as opposed to if the tournament was held in India, but having IPL was of utmost importance. By not having the IPL, we stand to lose on everything we have done over the past year and would have to start all over again the next time," a franchise insider said.

England and South Africa have emerged as possible venues but according to another insider who attended the meeting with Modi, the IPL commissioner gave enough hints that the preferred venue at the moment is England.
The owners too are happier with England because of the higher number of Indians settled there as compared to South Africa.

Escalating costs
Though the ICC World T20 is to be held in England from June 4 and regulations state that any major cricket event cannot be held within 15 days of an ICC event, a BCCI source confirmed that the regulation was restricted only to international events and since the IPL is a domestic event, the ICC would not have any objection to it.

With the expenses certain to escalate to even greater heights, Modi also guaranteed all the franchises that the IPL would make sure the franchises do not suffer losses even if it means that the IPL or the BCCI would not make any profits. This has come as a great relief to all the franchises who have invested heavily and are finding it a little bit hard to keep investing because of the economic slowdown.

Lot to go
Logistically, a lot of things still need to be planned and the franchises too will have their work cut out as new sponsorship deals and campaign planning will have to be chalked out.

Modi and the franchises are scheduled to meet again latest by Wednesday to discuss the finer points, the itinerary and the new revenue-sharing model.