Strong interest for two new IPL franchises

ESPNcricinfo: More than ten companies have bought the Invitation To Tender (ITT) document for the two new IPL franchises to replace the suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for the next two seasons. The two successful owners will be identified in a walk-in bid on December 9.

It was understood that Chennai-based companies Chettinad Group and ITW, media entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala’s Unilazer, consumer electronics major Videocon, Group M, Intex Mobile, snack manufacturer Haldiram, and Yes Bank were among the companies that purchased the bid document before the tender process ended on Monday. Harsh Goenka, chairman of the RPG group, and his brother Sanjiv, chairman of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka group, have also procured the document. Sanjiv Goenka is also the co-owner of football team Atletico de Kolkata in the Indian Super League. Bidders can seek clarification on the specifics of the bid process on December 4.

A BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo the response seemed positive. “Ten-twelve bids is quite a lot,” he said. “Obviously there is a high-level of interest in the document, but who knows how many of these companies will actually translate this into a specific bid.”

IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla had earlier stated that the two new franchise owners would be picked through the reverse-bidding process. “The base price for the reverse bid from the central revenue pool is Rs 40 crore and the party which bids for lowest share from the central revenue pool will be the winner of the new team,” Shukla had told PTI.

Another board official said reverse bidding was an interesting proposal. “There is no franchise fee, so you don’t pay a higher franchise fee and buy a team,” he said. “Normally they pay the franchise fee and we give a share of the broadcast rights. In a reverse bid, say for instance a company bids asking us for only Rs 20 crore from the broadcast rights, while another company asks for only Rs 15 crore. The one that asks for less money from us gets the rights.”

The official said it was a “win-win” for all the parties concerned. “If a company buys it for X amount, it is still going to gain a lot of money by way of publicity, and anyway there is no franchise fee involved,” he said. “This system has been devised because a franchise fee for a two-year period is difficult to evaluate, as you then get into valuation territory.”

The new franchises will replace Super Kings and Royals who were suspended by the RM Lodha Committee, appointed by the Supreme Court to investigate the 2013 IPL corruption scandal.