Ambani, Mallya in race to own IPL T20 teams

[guju24]

MUMBAI: Industrialists Anil Ambani and Vijay Mallya, football teams from the English Premier League, some members of the American National Basketball Association, two foreign banks with operations in India and as yet unnamed investment bankers are among those who have expressed interest in owning cricket teams in India. Sources said these parties had submitted their bids to the Indian Premier League, a body created by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to stage the T20 format of cricket matches. BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi said, "All I can confirm is that the Tatas and the Mahindras are not among the bidders. But many business houses, investment bankers and film personalities have expressed their interest in bidding for a team." TOI had reported in its November 5 edition that Hollywood star Russell Crowe was one of the interested bidders. Matches under the IPL banner are scheduled to be played during April 2008. Under the format, interested parties can bid for one of the eight teams that will represent an Indian city. The floor price for each team has been set at $50 million, Modi said. While 15 bidders have said they will bid only for Mumbai, nine have expressed interest in Delhi. Until now, 90 bidders have expressed their intention to participate in the auctioning that will be telecast on television, Modi added. Having done that, the successful bidders then get to bid for players of their choice. According to Modi, the pool of players the bidders can compete for will include the top 50 cricketers according to ICC's current rankings and every player in the current Indian team. Players ranked higher up on the listings will command as much as $300,000 while those lower down the rung can take home roughly $100,000. The caveat here is that "iconic Indian cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly can only play for their home teams", Modi said. Else, he explained, the sentiments of fans in their home state could be hurt. source: The Times Of India...

[Rajiv]

Emulating North American Sports

[Holysmoke]

MUMBAI: In a first in the world of Indian sport, a cricketer may end up being a player and his own boss. The Kishore Biyani-owned Future Group, which has expressed interest in becoming a franchisee of BCCI’s home league initiative — Indian Premier League (IPL) — is currently in talks with Sachin Tendulkar to look at jointly bidding to own the Mumbai team. Sources at Future Group confirmed to ET that the talks were on, and that the company has been in talks with BCCI and simultaneously with Sachin to own a minority stake. The rationale is simple: Sachin’s presence and the ownership status mean the valuation of the team would rise instantly and the Future Group can use Sachin to rope in other cricketers. For Sachin, the deal spells money. The stake in the Mumbai team will ensure the cricketer a fixed fee on an annual basis, plus a variable component depending on the profits the team garners. However, sources pointed out that the structure of the deal was still being worked upon. But Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani said, "We do not comment on speculation." Future Group, along with the Manipal Group, has already entered into a joint venture with Sachin for its new sports initiative, which entails the launch of a variety of products in the health supplement, sports goods, fitness equipment and lifestyle accessories categories. The products will be marketed under the brand names S Drive and Sach, which would be retailed across the multiple Future Group formats like Big Bazaar, Central, Planet Sports, Manipal Cure & Care. The deal with Future secures Sachin’s position, both as an investment and a retirement plan. Several attempts to contact Sachin were in vain, as he was on his way to Gwalior for the fourth one-dayer against Pakistan. BCCI has currently put its base price for owning a team at $50 million for 10 years, but insiders say the price could be anywhere between $75 million and $90 million. Meanwhile, the IPL governing council has invited the three broadcasters — ESPN Star, Nimbus Sports and Sony Entertainment Television — for making presentations for awarding the broadcast and media rights on November 17. The presentations will include IPL’s promotional strategy, an advertising rate projection and other ancillary and programming support. The meeting will essentially discuss non-financial issues such as a broadcaster’s capabilities. The tender document for the bid will be available from November 21 to December 7. The winner of the media rights will be announced by the BCCI on the December 7. Once the BCCI decides on the franchisees who will own the eight different teams, it will provide a pool of players — comprising the national players, Ranji Trophy players as well as the 29 international players who have signed up for the league — who will be auctioned as planned. The Future Group is being looked at as the front runner for the Mumbai team, while Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher is said to be the front runner for the Bangalore team.