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[keep-it-cool]

FAQs on IPL - from Prem's site

Once the Invitation to Tender was issued by the BCCI for those intending to be franchisees of the IPL, a host of procedural questions poured in. The BCCI honchos piloting the exercise answered these questions, and sent the resulting documents to all franchisees for a clearer understanding.

Here is the first lot of questions and answers—this lot relates to restrictions on players and squads:
http://www.prempanicker.com/index.php?/site/ipl_questions_part_1/

From the ITT it looks like the Franchisee is not bound to sign up players from those in the IPL pool list- is this correct? If so, the rule is we must have 4 International (foreign) players in a team and 12 others who may or may not be established stars.

Franchisees are not bound to sign up players from those in the IPL pool list. There is not a requirement to have international players in the squad, just a restriction that there may not be more than 8 of these.

The players list is not finalised and confirmed. Matches are in March/April. As per the calendar of schedules is it possible to know players from which countries will be available for IPL during March and April?

The IP is currently scheduled to start April 18th and finish June 1st. The availability of international cricketers is subject to their fitness and selection and their countries’ commitment to the ICC Future Tours Programme. In 2008 it is anticipated that Indians, Sri Lankans, South Africans, Bangladeshis and Zimbabweans will be available for the whole tournament. Pakistanis will likely be available from April 27th onwards, West Indians until mid May, and New Zealanders until the end of April. Australians in the one day team are likely to be available from late April onwards, Test players are unlikely to be available in year one. Players not selected by their national teams and those retired from international cricket are likely to be available for the entire tournament.

Franchisees are obliged to sign up players for 3 years. What is the remedy if there is no commitment or lack of performance of some players from the first year.  Are Franchisees stuck with players for three years?

The players are obliged to perform to the best of their ability.  If they are in breach then termination would be possible.  Otherwise for the players in the auction the initial term is 3 years.

To make a decision on which of the IPL pool players one might want to bid for, can bidders have the contracted amount agreed per player?

This information will be distributed prior to the Franchise bid deadline.

There was no mention of Hinterland players in the tender document, but it was mentioned in the Prospectus.

If this refers to players from the Franchise catchment area, each squad must have 4 players hailing from the Franchise catchment area.

Would you be open to reconsidering the minimum fee of $50K per player - if we apply this to the 4 ‘raw’ talent members it looks like a very heavy compensation for a young kid whose career is just starting.

IPL have reconsidered this and have set the minimum salary at $20,000 per year per player.

What is the position with regard to Australian players? In the present climate if successful, we would not want to bid for any one of them.

The Australian players that have committed to play in IPL will be available for recruitment via the player auction. In no case will Franchisees be compelled to bid for any particular player. If you bid for a player and he is not available for that season, you don’t have to pay him a nothing more than a 10 per cent retainer for having him on your squad, he only gets paid on a per match basis.

Minimum expense of $3.3million is mentioned in Schedule 3 cl.2d. Is this amount inclusive of all player associated costs such as travel, hotels, bonuses etc.

This minimum salary level covers base salary of all players in the squad. Minimum salary is according to our estimates but depends on what you negotiate and the bidding price at the players auction.

Is it mandatory for the Franchisee to spend at least USD 3.3 Million on the player fee ? Does it include the performance linked bonuses ? Does it include the “prize money” from the Central Revenues?

The $3.3m is the minimum spend per Franchise on players’ salaries. This does not include bonuses or prize money. It will be up to Franchisees to decide whether to award bonuses and/or share the prize money with players.

Is it mandatory for the team franchisee to give the “prize money” from the central revenues to the players?

No (see above), the “Variable Central Revenues” are those determined by the Franchise’s finishing positions in the League. These Variable Central Revenues may be distributed in whichever manner the Franchisee prefers.

This lot relates to grounds, and conduct of matches:
http://www.prempanicker.com/index.php?/site/ipl_queries_part_2/

Will IPL/BCCI or the Association that owns the relevant ground arrange for all security and human resource requirement, and charge the same to the Franchisee?

Each Franchisee will be required to put in an Event Manager – they will work with the local Association and IPL Venue Team to put this together.

What is the cost of using the Stadium for practice?

The cost will be for the entre IPL season and will not be divided into match and practice days. The stadium will be available from 4th April – end of the season.

Who will have the final authority on the ground on home match days?

IPL will have final authority – working with the Franchises.

Hospitality facilities are very poor on most of the grounds. Is there a plan to bring these to a standard which would be needed if corporate hospitality market is to be targeted?

Yes, but over a period of time.

Will all stadia will be “clean” of all other advertising? (Upper tier etc.)

All stadia will be handed over to IPL “clean” of all advertising prior to the tournament. The ground level advertising inventory will be commercially branded, the upper levels will be IPL branded.

Is the BCCI OK if with 20 % Ticket allocation for BCCI for Franchise Home matches is based on “numbers” and not “value”?

20 per cent of all categories of tickets will be allocated to the BCCI.  For example if there are 500 hospitality seats then 100 of those tickets will be given to the BCCI and 400 remain with the Franchisee.  This is applied to every category of ticket at the venue.

Are we correct in our understanding that all the local matches will be managed/staged/organised by the local association on consideration of costs fixed by BCCI/IPL?

Franchises will manage the match day operations in accordance with IPL match staging policy and will be obliged to pay all costs associated with this.

Will the local Association make available to the Franchisee all the corporate hospitality boxes and other premium seating facilities?

Yes, subject to the ability for IPL to require a number of tickets (20% by total value) for distribution to local associations etc. 20 per cent of seats.

Will Liquor be available to the public at the matches?

This will be subject to each state.  It will be necessary to apply for a liquor licence iIf Franchisees wish the sell alcoholic beverages at IPL matches.  In many stadiums it is available but specific permission is required.

This final lot relates to player contracts:
http://www.prempanicker.com/index.php?/site/ipl_queries_part_3_last/

If a Franchisee agrees to pay any player a fee which exceeds the fee which BCCI agreed to pay to such player, then the excess amount shall be paid to IPL.  However, this is in contradiction to the clause in the MOU signed between BCCI-IPL and the player which states that the excess amount will be paid to the player.  This is to be clarified.

Under the “firm” agreements any excess is paid to IPL. It is under the “basic” agreements that the excess is paid to the players. Most players who are contracted to IPL have chosen the basic arrangement.

Suppose a player is endorsing Coke, will he be able to play for a Pepsi branded team (with the Pepsi brand on his apparel) ? (Clause 3.1k of Player Contract)

Yes, in this case he would be allowed and expected to play for this team. He would not be allowed to endorse Coke in relation to his activities as a member of the team.

Another iteration is when the player is able to play but the Franchisee (or Franchisee Partner) cannot use his images, because of conflict of brands. What is the relief available to Franchisee (or Franchisee Partner)?

In such circumstances the player will forfeit 50% of his annual fee.

Will the players declare all their Existing Agreements before Franchisees bid for them ? Sufficient time should be given to Bidders to study the same. In fact, the player should clearly state what he is barred from doing for a franchisee / franchisee partner.

The player contract obliges the player to wear team apparel and to take part in team endorsement activities or risk losing 50% of the annual player fee. IPL would hope, therefore, that this penalty ensure players are fully available to Franchises.

In case the player is injured and requires long term treatment (much beyond the terms of the tournament), who will bear such expenses?

IPL will take out a central cover.  The Franchisee will need also to take out a cover for the players who they have on their teams in case of an injury.  IPL are negotiating a centralised cover in case the franchisee wants to use this instead.  IPL will work with the Franchisee to do that.  The Franchisee will be required to have a policy to take care of injures and the rehabilitation of the player should he get injured during the tournament and should the injury require treatment after the tournament, it is for the Team owner to cover.

Should the Club not win the IPL Trophy, can the player be sold to another Franchise for its play in the Champions Cup?

It is highly unlikely that it would happen but should it come up then it can be done provided a price is negotiated and agreed upon.

Two other questions were raised by the franchisees, and answered by IPL in this privately-circulated document. As below:


Can the Stadium be named after the Franchise name for the duration of the Event?

No such stadium naming rights will be permitted.

Who is in charge of Media?

IPL will be in charge of Media.

[keep-it-cool]

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/333341.html

Cricket's brand new age

Franchisees have forked over big money for the privilege of owning IPL teams. A look at how they'll be hoping to earn their money back

Ashok Malik

January 25, 2008

Father Christmas usually arrives in December, but it's been a windfall January for the BCCI. Two deals, one for television rights and the other for eight city-specific franchise teams, have fetched the Indian Premier League (IPL) close to $ 1.75 billion.

Of course, that figure is not as dazzling as it looks. Part of the TV rights money will go to the eight teams and so the franchise bids need to be discounted to that extent. That aside, these are ten-year agreements: it's not as if the IPL - or its promoter, the BCCI - is about to encash one mega cheque.

Even so, the bid winners could just have hit the jackpot. Mukesh Ambani has agreed to commit Rs 441 crore to an idea, a Mumbai-based team that will take part in a midsummer Twenty20 league. Tomorrow, or three or five years down the line, he could be controlling India's biggest sporting club, located in India's business capital, for as little as Rs 40 crore a year. He could use the players he signs - Sachin Tendulkar, of course, since the big Indian stars are promised to their "home" clubs, and even international names such as Shane Warne - to promote Reliance Industries' business interests, make Vimal the official kit supplier, make Reliance Retail the team's sole memorabilia seller, set up theme-based restaurants. Once the business model is established, Ambani - or for that matter Vijay Mallya's UB Group, which has won the rights for Bangalore, or GMR Holdings, the Delhi franchisee - could sell stakes to foreign investors, invite private equity, plan an IPO and tap the stock market.

As an investment banker from New York who showed interest in the IPL model and compared it to the business of American football pointed out: "Even when a team is not doing well, there is a certain cachet attached to owning a sports club. It's high profile and there'll always be a market for it. The supply is limited, so the demand will never go away." There may be a point there. English football is an example: even as careful a businessman as Lakshmi Mittal has bought himself a 20% stake in Queen's Park Rangers, hardly a top-class team.

Essentially, the IPL bid winners have on their hands an eight-team monopoly. Even if the league is expanded to other cities later, there is going to be no second Mumbai or Delhi or Hyderabad franchise.

Three things emerge from the January 24 auction. First, not one of the winners is a fly-by-night operator. They are all established business houses (Reliance, India Cements) or have access to cash on the basis of personal earnings and credit-worthiness (Shahrukh Khan).

Perhaps the luck of the draw has favoured the Mohali winners, a consortium of Preity Zinta and the scions of the Bombay Dyeing, Dabur and Apeejay families. They have picked up north India's emerging economic hub for Rs 300 crore. After all, the Mohali franchise also means access to Chandigarh's business and cricket potential. Insiders in the cricket industry say it will be easier to build loyalties, stage events and create a buzz around a city team in smaller urban centres like Jaipur and Chandigarh/Mohali than in Delhi or Mumbai. "In the larger metros, there's too much happening," says one sports-television executive. "Also, the urban sprawl is huge. Smaller cities may have fewer distractions."
 
Second, cricket fans and BCCI critics - for decades the two terms have been synonymous - have long bemoaned the fact that the Indian cricket board is not a professional body, that it doesn't have a paid CEO, a proper communications/media manager, a cutting-edge website. As it happens, the IPL clubs should fulfill these aspirations. Ambani and Mallya and Shahrukh Khan and Ness Wadia and the others would want a return on investment. They would be looking to set up separate companies - Reliance Mumbai Warriors Ltd or Kolkata Tigers Ltd, to pluck names out of the air - and hire professional managers, a qualified CEO, infotech specialists, to exploit the revenue possibilities online, marketing teams to expand the ambit of the franchise.

Zinta may be her team's face and mascot, but the nitty gritty of the franchise is going to be looked after by the men in suits. They will negotiate "official t-shirt sponsor" deals, manage customer/client or member/fan relations, and in general enhance the value of the franchise. They will be cold-blooded professionals, not honorary BCCI folk on a busman's holiday from politics.

Three, expect a tussle between the local cricket associations and the new IPL clubs. While the cricket market is going to expand, there's little doubt that Twenty20, played in the evening and under floodlights, is a hotter property than the Ranji Trophy. If the Red Chillies franchise does well in Kolkata, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) may be financially hurt.

No one looks forward to being a poor cousin. Teething troubles are already apparent, say BCCI sources. In the first season, aside from showpiece foreign stars, the bulk of the franchise teams is going be made up of cricketers already under contract with the local BCCI affiliate, the state/city cricket association. Further, infrastructure will have to be borrowed or hired.

Who will take precedence: Red Chillies or CAB, Reliance or Mumbai Cricket Association, GMR Holdings or the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association? In theory it should be a seamless partnership. In reality there is bound to be a turf war. The new avatar of Indian cricket has arrived while the previous one still walks the earth. Is there space for both?

Ashok Malik is a senior editor at the Pioneer in Delhi

[keep-it-cool]

Atherton sounds a note of caution ..

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml;jsessionid=3TARXFHXYEPODQFIQMFCFF4AVCBQYIV0?xml=/sport/2008/01/27/scmike127.xml

India's billion-dollar Twenty20 revolution

By Mike Atherton

Last Updated: 12:48am GMT 27/01/2008

To query whether the increasing dominance of Twenty20 is a good or bad thing for cricket is pointless, rather like ruminating on whether it is good or bad to grow old. It is going to happen; get over it. Get over it quickly because it is happening right now. Had you been in India last week, you could not have avoided the issue: every day the Indian Cricket League, India's domestic Twenty20 competition, was front-page news, and this despite the national team's resurgence in Australia and another century from the game's greatest current player, Sachin Tendulkar.

This was the week when the scale of things to come hit home. Firstly, the 10-year global television rights to the Indian Premier League were sold for over $1 billion (£510 million). Then, on Friday, the biggest franchise auction in domestic sport's history saw a further $723 million change hands for the eight franchises on offer. It was said after the Ashes victory of 2005 that cricket was the new football; well, the IPL is cricket's version of football's Premier League, and the consequences, in terms of the finances and structure of the world game, are likely to be far-reaching.

Over in the West, meanwhile, the Texan billionaire, Allen Stanford has just spent $3.5 million in a town called Fort Collins, Colorado, to promote his second Caribbean Twenty20 extravaganza, which gets under way this week. His is more of a social and marketing experiment; by targeting a specific area and making Fort Collins the only place in America where his tournament can be seen on cable TV, Stanford is the latest to attempt to crack the American market.

India is where the action is, though. With big business, sport and a dash of Bollywood thrown into the pot, the IPL has had the most glamorous and successful start. Each franchise was put up for auction on Thursday; each had a base price tag of $50 million. In the end, the cheapest, Jaipur, went for $17 million more than that and the most expensive, Mumbai, was sold for more than double the initial estimate. India's most valuable business, Reliance Industries, picked up Mumbai; one of Bollywood's biggest stars, Shah Rukh Khan, fronts the Kolkata franchise, and five icons of Indian cricket have already been accounted for. It is a heady mix.

The tournament is to be played in April/May, and now the owners of the franchises must employ coaches before a further auction takes place for players drawn from a list of 88 Indian and foreign cricketers. As many as eight internationals can be purchased for a squad of 16 players, though only four are eligible for any one match.

Because of the calendar clash with English domestic cricket, not one English player is on that list. There is an English link, however, with the IPL, and it comes in the form of one of the new franchise owners. Emerging Media, who picked up the Jaipur franchise, are run by an Indian-born but London-based businessman called Manoj Badale and, with the failure of Deutsche Bank to secure a franchise, Badale's EM (he is joined by Lachlan Murdoch and other investors) became the only non-Indian business to bid successfully.

Speaking to me on Friday from Mumbai, he outlined the economics of the deal. As well as his initial outlay for the franchise, and running costs, he must now employ a coach, bid for players and rent the ground in Jaipur for a two-month period. In return his consortium receive 10 per cent of 80 per cent of the television revenue, an equal share of the sponsorship income (a global sponsor is due to be announced next week) and any further revenue should his team make it through to the international club tournament in October, when the best two teams from England, Australia, India and South Africa will play off. He expects to make a 3-5 year return on his investment.

If Badale is the only visible English link so far with the IPL, it is difficult to see how, ultimately, English cricket can insulate itself from these winds of change. Not that the ECB have taken a stand-offish view to the IPL at all: this is an ICC-backed event with the nod of approval having been given by all the major Test-playing nations, unlike the rival Indian Twenty20 operation, the Indian Cricket League, which continues to have pariah status. But, given the monies being banded about for such a short span of work, it won't be long before England's players start looking for a slice of the pie.

At the moment, the threat to the availability of England players because of the IPL is non-existent. England players earn well (Shane Bond's current dispute with New Zealand suggests not every country can be as sanguine as England) and would be foolish to jeopardise those earnings. But one could easily envisage a situation where an ageing or frequently injured player decides the offer is just too good to turn down as uncertainty over his international career increases. Andrew Flintoff, for example, is the only England player to have been covertly tapped up so far. It might not take too many further ankle injuries for him to decide a bucketful of money for eight weeks' work is less hassle than repeated injections and rehab.

Further down the line, English county cricket may find itself threatened and the ECB, by sanctioning the IPL, may not so much have kept the barbarians at the gates, as let them through the front door. If the franchise model expands, as is the hope in India, then there will be a limit to how far a market can serve two masters. Even in India, a much bigger market for cricket, there will be a potential conflict between the new and the old. No prizes for guessing where a young, hip Calcuttan businessman will want to spend his company's dosh - and it's not with the antiquated Bengal Cricket Association. Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Red Chillies has far more appeal.

Such a potential conflict must be a worry for English cricket's traditional power bases. To give one example: the ICL, which completed its inaugural tournament a month ago, has now announced its 2008 schedule, which includes another shindig in April and May. Paul Nixon, Chris Read and Stuart Law all played in the inaugural tournament and are still contracted. Where do their priorities lie? With the ICL or a pre-season tour with their county?

With rupees swirling around like confetti, private equity now stalking the game, agents desperate not to miss out on the best deals for their clients, and clients wondering which particular horse to back, cricket is entering a new paradigm, in which rupees and the free market are kings and players and entrepreneurs are the beneficiaries. As developments moved on apace, England left for a quaint tour of New Zealand yesterday.

[keep-it-cool]

Meanwhile Deccan Chronicle claims that it will break even on this in year 2 itself .. Mallya has also made similar noises ... most seem to be unanimous that they are not necessarily looking to make a lot of money out of this initially - it is more of a cross promotional opportunity plus the chance to engage in an expensive hobby!!

[keep-it-cool]

http://www.business-standard.com/common/news_article.php?leftnm=lmnu9&subLeft=&autono=311660&tab=r

IPL deal seems sweet for franchise owners
 
BS Reporter / Mumbai January 25, 2008
 
In a what seems to be a lucrative deal for the owners of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, nearly 60-65 per cent of their costs have been covered through sale of television rights to Sony-World Sports Group (WSG) for $1.026 billion, including $108 million by BCCI. 
 
During the first and fifth year of IPL, the eight team owners will get 80 per cent of the total broadcasting revenues and 60 per cent from year six onwards. 
 
As per industry estimates, roughly $6-7 million is what each franchise owners will earn each year from broadcasting revenues alone. However, this figure could go down in coming years as BCCI has the right to increase the number of franchises from the present eight, which would mean sharing the broadcasting revenue with more corporates. 
 
The winners of the various IPL teams reckon they would break even the investment on Twenty20 league team between the second and fifth year. 
 
To add to this, industry experts say that a gap of $3-4 million can be adjusted as a company’s advertising b udget, because of the high mileage the corporate gets through its ownership. 
 
BCCI is said to have raised a total off $ 1.749 billion (Rs 6996 crore) through the team auction. 
 
P K Iyer executive director of Deccan Chronicle, the third highest bidder (after RIL and Mallya) with $107 million, is confident about breaking even in the second season. 
 
“The nuances are something we will know in a couple of days after the team is final. We believe that it is a profitable venture,” he said. 
 
On the other hand, UK-based Emerging Media, which bid along with Lachlan Murdoch and won the Jaipur team franchise at $67 million, feels it will break even only in the third year of the league. 
 
“We won the bid at an economical price (least of the eight bids) and our forecast is that we will break even in the third season, if all goes well then in season two. The first year’s expense stands at $11 million, which also includes the franchisee fee ($6.7 million to be paid each year to BCCI) and the cost of acquiring players and maintaining the team. We are hoping the first year’s revenues will be around $9 million,” said Fraser Castellilno, CEO, Emerging Media. The company also runs the Leicestershire County Cricket Club in England. 
 
Though RIL has bid at a whopping $111.9 million for the Mumbai team, given that advertisements and entertainment revenues would be lucrative in the city, RIL will break even in year four, according to experts. While others were most likely break even by year five, they said. 
 
IPL will kick start its inaugural season on April 18, 2008, with 59 matches across 44 days.

[Shukla]

I am surprised more overseas investors with a market in India, like Coke, have not won any bids. If the worst case scenario is breakeven in 5 years, with the best in 2 with unlimited upside potential and downside potential limited to 35-40%, it seems a good franchise to win.

Who in this forum could shell out $100m?
 

[Blwe_torch]

Thanks for volunteering for the BCCI cause KIC!
Don't worry unnecessarily, if they don't bestow a BCCI-Ratna or something similar upon you............my 50 runs worth of appreciation will always be there for u!

[dextrous]

id be very curious to see if divisions along these lines works in a sport that is divided by countries, not private enterprise. if i had $100 million, i wouldnt waste it on this.

[keep-it-cool]

id be very curious to see if divisions along these lines works in a sport that is divided by countries, not private enterprise. if i had $100 million, i wouldnt waste it on this.

I agree with you on the difficulty to generate interest along club lines. We'll have to wait and see how it goes.

However, as an investment, it is a good idea .. especially if you are a company that can use this as a promotional vehicle as well!

For the likes of SRK and Priety Zinta, well it is just an expensive whim I guess...something that they can afford.

[broadbat]

Well I suppose they are hoping there would be some form of emotional attachment from the city/town folks in which these clubs are based.
The 'Ranchi Raiders' if there were one might get the support of say, Dex.

[dextrous]

Well I suppose they are hoping there would be some form of emotional attachment from the city/town folks in which these clubs are based.
The 'Ranchi Raiders' if there were one might get the support of say, Dex.

 

id take the patliputra guptas too!! i always fancied myself to be a direct descendant of chandragupta

but on a less serious note, with only 4 local players in a team...that'll be hard to do.

[dextrous]

id be very curious to see if divisions along these lines works in a sport that is divided by countries, not private enterprise. if i had $100 million, i wouldnt waste it on this.

I agree with you on the difficulty to generate interest along club lines. We'll have to wait and see how it goes.

However, as an investment, it is a good idea .. especially if you are a company that can use this as a promotional vehicle as well!

For the likes of SRK and Priety Zinta, well it is just an expensive whim I guess...something that they can afford.

kic, im not sure what the return will be like at all...this is pretty high risk business and $100Million is a fair bit of change...but i suppose if you had the money to spare and could use it for other things like promotion, it might make some sense.

[keep-it-cool]

Well I suppose they are hoping there would be some form of emotional attachment from the city/town folks in which these clubs are based.
The 'Ranchi Raiders' if there were one might get the support of say, Dex.

 

id take the patliputra guptas too!! i always fancied myself to be a direct descendant of chandragupta

but on a less serious note, with only 4 local players in a team...that'll be hard to do.

I dont think there is any such restriction.

The conditions are - only 4 intl players in a match and at least 4 U-21 players. The rest is up to you.

[keep-it-cool]

id be very curious to see if divisions along these lines works in a sport that is divided by countries, not private enterprise. if i had $100 million, i wouldnt waste it on this.

I agree with you on the difficulty to generate interest along club lines. We'll have to wait and see how it goes.

However, as an investment, it is a good idea .. especially if you are a company that can use this as a promotional vehicle as well!

For the likes of SRK and Priety Zinta, well it is just an expensive whim I guess...something that they can afford.

kic, im not sure what the return will be like at all...this is pretty high risk business and $100Million is a fair bit of change...but i suppose if you had the money to spare and could use it for other things like promotion, it might make some sense.

Well, I havent done any calculations myself. I am just repeating what some of these companies which are listed - viz Deccan Chronicle and UB have been telling us.

[dextrous]

id be very curious to see if divisions along these lines works in a sport that is divided by countries, not private enterprise. if i had $100 million, i wouldnt waste it on this.

I agree with you on the difficulty to generate interest along club lines. We'll have to wait and see how it goes.

However, as an investment, it is a good idea .. especially if you are a company that can use this as a promotional vehicle as well!

For the likes of SRK and Priety Zinta, well it is just an expensive whim I guess...something that they can afford.

kic, im not sure what the return will be like at all...this is pretty high risk business and $100Million is a fair bit of change...but i suppose if you had the money to spare and could use it for other things like promotion, it might make some sense.

Well, I havent done any calculations myself. I am just repeating what some of these companies which are listed - viz Deccan Chronicle and UB have been telling us.

i havent either, im just basing it on following cricket and my knowledge of indian cricket and audience

[LosingNow]

Well I suppose they are hoping there would be some form of emotional attachment from the city/town folks in which these clubs are based.
The 'Ranchi Raiders' if there were one might get the support of say, Dex.

 

id take the patliputra guptas too!! i always fancied myself to be a direct descendant of chandragupta

but on a less serious note, with only 4 local players in a team...that'll be hard to do.

MSD will be your assigned regional player

[keep-it-cool]

id be very curious to see if divisions along these lines works in a sport that is divided by countries, not private enterprise. if i had $100 million, i wouldnt waste it on this.

I agree with you on the difficulty to generate interest along club lines. We'll have to wait and see how it goes.

However, as an investment, it is a good idea .. especially if you are a company that can use this as a promotional vehicle as well!

For the likes of SRK and Priety Zinta, well it is just an expensive whim I guess...something that they can afford.

kic, im not sure what the return will be like at all...this is pretty high risk business and $100Million is a fair bit of change...but i suppose if you had the money to spare and could use it for other things like promotion, it might make some sense.

Well, I havent done any calculations myself. I am just repeating what some of these companies which are listed - viz Deccan Chronicle and UB have been telling us.

i havent either, im just basing it on following cricket and my knowledge of indian cricket and audience

we'll have to find out as we go .. i think the key to note here is that 100mn$ is for 10 years .. so, effectively, it is only 10m per year .. that is not such a huge investment that cannot be recovered .. a part of it will come back from the distribution of the media rights and another global sponsorship that is to be signed shortly.

[dextrous]

id be very curious to see if divisions along these lines works in a sport that is divided by countries, not private enterprise. if i had $100 million, i wouldnt waste it on this.

I agree with you on the difficulty to generate interest along club lines. We'll have to wait and see how it goes.

However, as an investment, it is a good idea .. especially if you are a company that can use this as a promotional vehicle as well!

For the likes of SRK and Priety Zinta, well it is just an expensive whim I guess...something that they can afford.

kic, im not sure what the return will be like at all...this is pretty high risk business and $100Million is a fair bit of change...but i suppose if you had the money to spare and could use it for other things like promotion, it might make some sense.

Well, I havent done any calculations myself. I am just repeating what some of these companies which are listed - viz Deccan Chronicle and UB have been telling us.

i havent either, im just basing it on following cricket and my knowledge of indian cricket and audience

we'll have to find out as we go .. i think the key to note here is that 100mn$ is for 10 years .. so, effectively, it is only 10m per year .. that is not such a huge investment that cannot be recovered .. a part of it will come back from the distribution of the media rights and another global sponsorship that is to be signed shortly.

ah ha, 10 years. i missed that part. okay, makes a bit more sense, though i guess that depends on how long it lasts.  ;)things will be clearer after season 1 is over

[keep-it-cool]

Will IPL add to or dice the advertising pie?
 
Nivedita Mookerji
Wednesday, 30 January , 2008, 08:29
 
http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14596892

The advertising trend is set to undergo a change with the Indian Premier League (IPL), the brain child of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), getting into action with its Twenty20 matches starting in April.

A closely fought bidding war recently saw business tycoons and film stars putting in big money to buy the eight IPL teams for anything between Rs272 crore and Rs441 crore.

The next round of auction on February 8 will determine which cricketers will join which team. Media planners are keenly watching the development, and would decide their exact game plan soon. But they are already saying that the advertising pie will grow with IPL coming in.

Ravi Kiran, CEO-South Asia of the Starcom MediaVest Group, said the media advertising budget will grow by around 2 per centpost-IPL.

•  Quarterly results of corporates: Check out

Currently, the total ad pie in India is estimated at Rs 16,000 crore. And, an additional budget of 2 per centwould mean that the ad pie would grow by anything between Rs 300 crore and Rs 400 crore because of the IPL matches. But Ravi Kiran didn't term it as a dramatic impact on the advertising budget.

Mona Jain, executive vice-president at India Media Exchange (Publicis Group), also indicated that the ad pie is expected to increase post-IPL, but refused to hazard a guess on the extent of impact it could have.

According to Jain, with so much money gone into bidding, the ad rates will be high for the IPL matches. While FMCGs may be a bit sceptical of advertising in the league matches, those likely to put in their money are companies in the telecom, insurance and finance sectors, Jain said.

For India's tour to Australia, the ad rates on television for test matches have been anything between Rs 50,000 and Rs 75,000 per 10 seconds. One-day matches command much more — around Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 1.6 lakh per 10 seconds.

Media analysts that DNA Money spoke to denied that other sports would suffer because of the ad pie getting split even further. "People are earning more and spending more. With the economy booming and the ad spend growing significantly, there's no reason that one should lose because another is gaining," said Ravi Kiran. On the other hand, other sports may benefit indirectly after IPL, because sports consciousness is growing in the country, he said.

Another media analyst pointed out how the Bharti group had recently announced its support for football, despite the fact that cricket is attracting so much corporate money.

On television alone, the annual ad spend is estimated at Rs 5,500 crore to Rs 6,000 crore. Of this, cricket captures around 8 to 10 per centa year on an average. However, in a Cricket World Cup year, the cricket ad spend goes up by around 5 per cent.

BCCI recently notched up over Rs 7,000 crore from bidding for eight IPL teams and selling broadcasting rights to Sony. Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani paid the highest at Rs 441 crore for the Mumbai team. Other winners were Vijay Mallya, Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Deccan Chronicle, GMR, India Cements, and UK's Emerging Media.

[keep-it-cool]

http://www.business-standard.com/common/news_article.php?leftnm=10&bKeyFlag=BO&autono=312063

BCCI Inc among India`s top 200 firms
 
Surajeet Das Gupta & Aminah Sheikh / New Delhi/Mumbai January 30, 2008
 
If it were a corporate entity, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) would have been among the country’s top 170 companies in terms of revenues (2007) — much larger than Zee Entertainment (Rs 1,515.88 crore) for which promoter Subhash Chandra is waging a bitter battle against the official cricket board to develop 20:20 cricket in India. 
 
In fact, BCCI would also surpass FMCG company Colgate Palmolive (Rs 1,290.70 crore), consumer durables giant Whirlpool of India (Rs 1,476 crore) and pharma major Glaxo SmithKline (Rs 1,565.85 crore). 
 
All this is courtesy the Rs 1,621 crore revenues that the country’s richest sports body will be raking in every year for the next three years just by selling broadcast rights, domestic 20:20 cricket teams, and team sponsorship rights amongst others.

ON A STRONG WICKET
Rights sold, Total contract, Annual value
Broadcast rights to Nimbus (2006-2010) 2191 547.75
Team sponsor deal to Sahara (2006-2010) 280 70
Team kit sponsor deal with Nike (2006-10) 196.99 49.24
Broadcast rights in non-ICC countries to Nimbus (2006-11) 876.6 175.32
IPL broadcast rights to Sony (fm 2008 for ten years) 4104 410.4
IPL team rights deal (fm 2008 for ten years) 2892 289
Others(incl IP, team sponsorsground,team auction etc 80 —
 
(Figures in Rs crore)
 
To put it another way, BCCI will earn Rs 4.43 crore everyday for the next three years — irrespective of whether cricket matches are being played or not in some venue in India. 
 
The revenues will only go up with a bevy of rights coming up for re-bidding in 2010. These include the broadcast rights for domestic international matches, the team sponsorship deal (currently with Sahara) and the team kit contract (currently with Nike). 
 
The big revenue earners come from selling broadcast rights for cricket matches in a cricket-crazy country. These include broadcasting revenues from international cricket matches within India and from neutral venues in non-ICC countries that have been bagged by Nimbus. 
 
BCCI has also sold the TV rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to a consortium led by Sony TV. These two mega-contracts account for over 70 per cent of the board’s revenues. 
 
To understand this hyper-growth consider that BCCI’s 2005-06 revenue was Rs 430 crore and 2006-07 revenue Rs 650 crore. The major growth will now come from the lucrative new revenue stream opened up by the IPL 20:20 tournament. 
 
In the last few weeks the sports body, for instance, has raked in Rs 6996 crore from selling the broadcasting and the team franchising rights of IPL for the next ten years. 
 
Or to put it another way, with 128 players in eight teams slugging it out for the 20:20 tournament from April 18 this year, the sports body has already made over Rs 5.4 crore from each player — and this without the teams even having been selected. 
 
The eight teams (each will have 16 players) will be slugging it out for the IPL 20:20 tournament, playing over 59 matches. 

[keep-it-cool]

http://www.televisionpoint.com/news2008/newsfullstory.php?id=1201610688

Money, money, money is the IPL name game
Tuesday - Jan 29, 2008
Ashish Khurana - Televisionpoint.com | Mumbai

Big Boys play at night' was the slogan in vogue when cricket first began to become an evening spectacle under the glare of spotlights, when Kerry Packer first thought of a cricket league. That was of course a long time ago.

As India continues to sustain its slot as the financial epicenter of cricket, the Boys in the game just got bigger – the biggest names you'd think of have thrown their hat in the Indian Premier League (IPL) ring, and so, just this once, the stars on the ground may have to face serious competition in the attention stakes from those who run the teams. From the corporate world's czars to the badshah of Bollywood, the team bidding process has quite justified the 'premier' that the P in IPL stands for. Come April, and we will fully understand just what has attracted an expenditure of Rs 3,984 crore for the media rights and Rs 2,852 crore for franchise bidding.

But even now, the picture is interesting. For now comes the most exciting off field drama of the format, when the franchises bid for the players who will play for them. Each team will have to bid for at least 16 players, at a minimum salary of Rs 20 lakh.

Interestingly, though, India's Star players Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni are not available for bidding, and will have to play for their local teams. Of these, the T20 champions' skipper, Dhoni, is still a wild card though, since Jharkhand has no team for this league; we will know only later which team he is asked to play for. To the presence of these stars, add a host of foreign players who will be up for grabs with each team allowed to have four foreign players.

The IPL, a potential $2 billion modern business in sport, will propel the national game of cricket into taking a quantum leap from the era of the begging bowl to a world of riches beyond imagination.

It's less than a decade since Doordarshan's Rs 230-crore TV rights deal (for five years) for international cricket in the country was thought of as a path-breaking route to riches. Since then, the rights contracts are threatening to break the billion-dollar barrier.

Add IPL revenues and it becomes easy to see why India is the undisputed economic powerhouse of the cricket world.

Cricket, the Indian dream machine, is going further this time. A powerful mix of Bollywood stars, glitterati, liquor and media barons and a virtual who's who of Indian industry is lined up to anoint this leap into the truly professional era of the game. At the end of the day, the biggest beneficiaries will be the players, the best performing international stars and domestic Indian cricketers, who have never seen the game give them more than two square meals a day.

In one stroke, Indian cricket will wipe away years of neglect of the players just below Test and ODI level. The burgeoning revenues of both the international game in India and IPL will ensure money for infrastructure, which at the moment is terribly outdated in our sport arenas. The national cricketer will get a glamorous televised stage on which his performances may fetch him the recognition that has been given to him, thus far, only reluctantly by a selection rather than talent scout system.

The franchisee route by which superstars of the entertainment world, like Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta, will also own teams will take cricket in the country to the level of pro sport in the US. The US is where the modern visionary of the game, Lalit Modi, BCCI Vice-president, drew his inspiration. With the help of sports management companies, Modi, who comes from a family of industrialists, made the linkage between business, entertainment industry and sport possible.

The charisma of Indian cricket simply took it further. Which other sport in the country has the capacity to attract the most glamorous from Bollywood, the crème de la crème of businessmen, like Mukesh Ambani and Vijay Mallya, and infrastructure and media barons? Compared to this, the Indian Cricket League, a forerunner, is a much cheaper business property but one which showed the way in many ways, especially in the treatment of players and in serving their need for security.

The Bollywood mix of naughty girls, rock stars and comedians takes a day at the cricket to a different level of public entertainment. The victory of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's band of Indians in the world Twenty20 championship in 2007 changed the scenario forever. The new audience for the game, consisting of women and children, represents the formation of new ties, while the accent is on fun of the fair which now comes to the cricket.

What of the cricket itself? Twenty20 is a winner so far as the public is concerned. Critics may knock the slam-bang version as inconsequential but there is no denying there is a whole new generation of players who believe their future lies in this extreme form of the all-action game that leaves no time to think and the ones to blink first get left behind.

What of the scheduling in an age when all the talk among the pros is the amount of cricket that is being played? The clash of interests between state and club is what may cause a few furrows to be creased as programmers fight to find dates that will be most suitable for the IPL amidst a very crowded international schedule.

On the technical front, T20 cricket will add enormous pace to run gathering with the emphasis on big hitting that Yuvraj Singh (and Herschelle Gibbs before him in an ODI) already took to a new level with his six sixes in an over. More athletic fielders will try to aid their poor brethren, the bowlers, who are threatened with a fate worse than that reserved now for the slaves of the game.

In adding a third tier to the Test ODI format of the international game, T20 will most likely wipe the last vestige of public attention from national cricket. Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy will become mere talent-raising platforms since only players who get on to T20 will really make a good living off the game as a minimum wage of $50,000 per player per season is being thought of.

The franchisees, who were picked as much for their financial bids as for their strong presence in the respective cities, believe they have a fair deal, with business projections predicting the ownership of teams will break even between the second and fifth years.

The revenue-sharing agreement is fair although the bottom line will have to accommodate a considerable premium on the publicity spin off that the owners will get.

The prime driver of the whole business is television. Indian TV advertising revenues, projected to cross $6,000 million in 2008, are forecast to grow at a CAGR of 22 per cent.

With TV ownership spreading into 112 million homes, according to a PWC study, the Indian market represents one of the biggest in the world. Also, India is the third largest pay TV market with 68 million homes paying a monthly subscription to receive specialty channels and that market is expected to grow with the demand for cricket viewing.

Concluding, it's a whole new ball game in an old ball park that is completely unrecognisable from the amateur sport played on the greensward for a bit of honour and national pride. Pro sport will make excessive demands on players who will have to play to match climbing pay scales while young fans will be too thrilled to be able to watch more of their favourite sport. The world has changed and the newfangled T20 cricket is a recognition of that change.

Percept Managing director Shailendra Singh has his own take. "I look at it as a real estate investment. It seems a saleable commodity going by the enthusiasm of BCCI. And with the ICC backing it up so seriously, this new format will be a hit for the already cricket crazy audience of our country." But with huge expenses like hiring of the stadia, expenses for security and organisation of seven matches at home, training, salaries to coaches and support staff, and their own promotions, this ain't for the faint hearted.

[b]"I must add that the investors should have the appetite to lose Rs 60-70 crore each year for at least three to four years initially. But the extraordinary thing is the 10-year tenure, and with a billion fans, it should turn out to be an extremely profitable venture,"[/b] Singh adds. What players is he looking for in his Jaipur team? "I will like to have Ricky Ponting as my skipper for his sheer shrewd and tactical abilities, however much we may dislike him at the moment. I will love to have a blend of Aussie and Sri Lankan players."

For some other investors, love for the sport is the inspiration, they say. "I wanted my favourite Yuvraj Singh to play for me and I am glad he will be playing for my team. Frankly I will like to see all the good players playing in IPL, whether in my team or for the opponents," says Dabur scion Mohit Burman who is part of the group that acquired the Mohali/Chandigarh team.

Preity has said that "I am from the North and I always wanted the Chandigarh team. We already have an exciting player in Yuvraj. What more do we want?" Her wish-list also includes Dhoni and Sreesanth. And Shah Rukh Khan has said that he "adores Sourav Ganguly" and wants him to lead the Kolkata team.

IPL revenues
TV rights of $1.026 billion for 10 years from Sony-World Sports Group (WSG).

Team franchises: $726 million for 10 years.

Teams: 8, to grow to 12 soon.

Matches in inaugural season (from April 18, 2008): 59 comprising 7 home and 7 away matches for each of 8 teams, 2 semifinals and a final (to be played in Mumbai).

Prize money: 16% of TV revenues, with winner taking purse of $4 million (about Rs 16 crores)

Venues: 8 cities

Franchisees: 8 who will get 64% of TV revenues to begin with, share becoming less as teams are added and tapering down over the 10 years of the contract.

Players: Up to 130 players, including 32 from a foreign pool of 84 IPL contracted cricketers, are likely to get sums ranging from $1 million to a minimum anticipated wage of $50,000 per season.

ODI comparison: In a typical ODI in India, BCCI gets close to $8.5 million from TV. Title, ground and apparel sponsors pay $1 million, ground sponsorship $1.7 million, bringing a total revenue of $11 million per match day.

IPL figures will be far less per match day. BCCI is worth nearly Rs 10 billion from current total assets of Rs 9.6 billion of which investments are Rs 7.5 billion. Last fiscal profits were Rs 232 crores.

National first class cricketer: Earns match fees of Rs 35,000 per day and shares prize money for domestic tournaments of Rs 4.2 crores.

International cricketer: Earns match fees of Rs 2.60 lakhs per ODI and Rs 3.5 lakhs per Test, besides an annual retainer ranging from Rs 60 lakhs to Rs 25 lakhs, depending on his rating in four categories.

IPL fees: Ranges from $400,000 to a projected minimum of $50,000 per player per season.

[Shukla]

id be very curious to see if divisions along these lines works in a sport that is divided by countries, not private enterprise. if i had $100 million, i wouldnt waste it on this.

I agree with you on the difficulty to generate interest along club lines. We'll have to wait and see how it goes.

However, as an investment, it is a good idea .. especially if you are a company that can use this as a promotional vehicle as well!

For the likes of SRK and Priety Zinta, well it is just an expensive whim I guess...something that they can afford.

kic, im not sure what the return will be like at all...this is pretty high risk business and $100Million is a fair bit of change...but i suppose if you had the money to spare and could use it for other things like promotion, it might make some sense.

Well, I havent done any calculations myself. I am just repeating what some of these companies which are listed - viz Deccan Chronicle and UB have been telling us.

i havent either, im just basing it on following cricket and my knowledge of indian cricket and audience

we'll have to find out as we go .. i think the key to note here is that 100mn$ is for 10 years .. so, effectively, it is only 10m per year .. that is not such a huge investment that cannot be recovered .. a part of it will come back from the distribution of the media rights and another global sponsorship that is to be signed shortly.

ah ha, 10 years. i missed that part. okay, makes a bit more sense, though i guess that depends on how long it lasts.  ;)things will be clearer after season 1 is over

ironical. If you are willing to give ICL a chance to succeed, your pessimism regarding the success of IPL is boggling. I think the probabilities of ICL and IPL failing are in the ratio of 90 to 1.

Sometimes we cant see a good investment if it hits us in the face.

[broadbat]

Interestingly, though, India's Star players Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid

Not T20 I would imagine.

[keep-it-cool]

A counter view here ...

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Making_money_on_IPL_would_be_big_challenge/articleshow/2733125.cms

MUMBAI: Now that the dust has settled over the bids for Indian Premier League team franchises, the winners will now have their work cut out to figure out how to actually make money from the property.

Opinion is, of course, sharply divided among the bidders, depending on which side of the fence they ended up on, whether there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

For instance, Reliance Industries, which won the franchise rights for the prized Mumbai team, is clear about its intent. “We are looking for a self-sustaining model. For us, this is a serious business proposition,” said a senior official at Reliance, on conditions of anonymity.

Unlike Kingfisher which is likely to plaster its logo on shirts, bats, trousers, gloves and pads, Reliance is yet to decide whether it makes sense to associate its brand name with IPL-or sell it to the highest bidder. Already, the official says that a host of specialist sports marketing firms have been calling to offer their services. “We need to examine the revenue potential to see what makes more sense,” he said.

It may well be a case of sour grapes, but one of the losing bidders ET spoke to insisted that making money on the property would be a big challenge.

“Even at an amount which was barely above the floor price, our estimates showed that we were going to make a loss of nearly Rs 3-4 crore a year. It made sense only if we used it as a media platform for our brand, but I don’t see it as a money-making proposition.”

ET could not reach Ness Wadia, who along with Preity Zinta and others won the Mohali team franchise, for comment. The scepticism over revenue-generation comes with good reason. Here’s what the economics look like. There are a few fixed revenue streams, like media and central rights from the BCCI. The media rights currently stands fixed at Rs 20-22 crore.

Other central rights, which include both title sponsorship and in-stadia sponsorship, will add up to Rs 3-4 crore, which, according to one of the bidders is still less than what a full ODI would generate.

“International matches would attract a lot more money. We’ve understood that there will be a discounting of at least one-third for the IPL,” says the same losing bidder. For a stadium with a capacity of 40,000, the expected revenues would be in the region of Rs 12 crore, but 20% of this value goes straight to the BCCI for all IPL matches. Local kit sponsorships and tie-ups wouldn’t yield more than Rs 4 crore, even for a Mumbai team.

Together, this adds up to approximately Rs 40 crore as revenue. On the cost side, player salaries would amount to a minimum of Rs 15 crore, and the IPL council itself has set a minimum of Rs 13 crore for players. Now add that to player support staff, transport, insurance, match hosting and ticketing agent fee.

Costs add up to Rs 32 crore, including marketing and advertising. But here’s the kicker. For instance, in Mumbai, Mukesh Ambani would also be paying Rs 45 crore a year as franchise fee. That could potentially translate into a loss of well over Rs 30 crore in the first year itself.

[dextrous]

id be very curious to see if divisions along these lines works in a sport that is divided by countries, not private enterprise. if i had $100 million, i wouldnt waste it on this.

I agree with you on the difficulty to generate interest along club lines. We'll have to wait and see how it goes.

However, as an investment, it is a good idea .. especially if you are a company that can use this as a promotional vehicle as well!

For the likes of SRK and Priety Zinta, well it is just an expensive whim I guess...something that they can afford.

kic, im not sure what the return will be like at all...this is pretty high risk business and $100Million is a fair bit of change...but i suppose if you had the money to spare and could use it for other things like promotion, it might make some sense.

Well, I havent done any calculations myself. I am just repeating what some of these companies which are listed - viz Deccan Chronicle and UB have been telling us.

i havent either, im just basing it on following cricket and my knowledge of indian cricket and audience

we'll have to find out as we go .. i think the key to note here is that 100mn$ is for 10 years .. so, effectively, it is only 10m per year .. that is not such a huge investment that cannot be recovered .. a part of it will come back from the distribution of the media rights and another global sponsorship that is to be signed shortly.

ah ha, 10 years. i missed that part. okay, makes a bit more sense, though i guess that depends on how long it lasts.  ;)things will be clearer after season 1 is over

ironical. If you are willing to give ICL a chance to succeed, your pessimism regarding the success of IPL is boggling. I think the probabilities of ICL and IPL failing are in the ratio of 90 to 1.

Sometimes we cant see a good investment if it hits us in the face.

have you been reading what ive been writing?! ive been arguing that BCCI should NOT CREATE CIRCUMSTANCES that will lead to ICL's failure. whether or not it fails or suceeds, of that i have no idea. their task is FAR FAR harder than BCCI's primarily because of the monopoly situation that has led to ICC disallowing players from going to ICL. anyway, im not going to turn this thread into another monopoly debate--we can continue that on the other thread. but there's no need to mis-represent my views.

[keep-it-cool]

I wonder if this is true .. and what sense does it make to not let SRT play in the team!!!

http://cricket.indiatimes.com/Tendulkar_may_bat_off_field_in_IPL/articleshow/2765347.cms

Tendulkar may become non-playing captain of Mumbai team
TNN / Sonali Krishna
PrintSaveWrite to EditorMail

MUMBAI, February 7: He's the best batsman of the world, he's got 39 Test centuries under his belt and his name simply spells magic. But this time round, he wants to do things a bit differently. Sachin Tendulkar, who's part of Mukesh Ambani's Mumbai team for IPL, will be active off the field, playing a strategic role for the $111.9-million Mumbai team.

Sources close to Mukesh Ambani told Economic Times that Sachin will be the consultant and the key thinker on team strategies and the operational functioning of the Mumbai team. It's still unclear whether Sachin will take the field. But if industry sources are to be believed, Sachin may become the non-playing captain of Mumbai. An official mail sent to Mukesh Ambani drew a ‘no comments' response.

RIL insiders told ET that Sachin has been in talks with Mukesh and his team for a while now, and is giving crucial inputs on how the Mumbai brand should be built. Since the cricketer is touring Australia, he could not be reached, while an e-mail sent to his manager remained unanswered.

The IPL panel has given Sachin an Icon Player status and will be paying him 15% more than the top player of the Mumbai T-20 team. RIL insiders also said that Sachin, apart from his player fees, will also be given some kind of equity or at least a profit-sharing in the team. The stake in the Mumbai team will ensure he gets a fixed fee on an annual basis, plus a variable component, depending on the money made by the team.

The other icons are, of course, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly who will be representing Bangalore, Delhi and Kolkata, respectively. Needless to say that Sachin will also be the face and the champion mascot of the Mumbai team, and will be the brand ambassador across all advertising and marketing promotions that will come up closer to the matches.

The rationale here's simple: First, Brand Sachin will lend a lot of credibility to the Mumbai team. Secondly, the valuation of the team will shoot up instantly and thirdly, Mukesh Ambani would get the help of Sachin to rope in other cricket stars. 

[keep-it-cool]

http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gflMJPw6nKIaJZcnK_Fk23YdGSBg

IPL player auction delayed
1 day ago

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has postponed the auction of enrolled players because of confusion over their participation in the inaugural tournament in April.

IPL authorities will meet with the franchisees on February 9 to discuss the players available for the event and will then announce the auction date.

"It is only fair that the teams are made aware of the bilateral tours and other cricketing engagements during the IPL period before they decide on who they want for their respective teams, which is why we have postponed the auction," BCCI chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty told The Times of India.

"Once we brief them in the meeting on February 9, they can go back and decide their strategies in time for the auction.

"After all, we don't want to be in a position where the franchisees end up bidding for players who are unavailable."

The complications have emerged because of the unavailability of several enrolled players, mostly because of national commitments.

There is also a doubt over the involvement of Australian players as their tour of Pakistan coincides with the IPL period.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have decided to take time to sort out issues before players are signed up by the franchises in the IPL, rather than holding the auction this week.

The player auction may be rescheduled for mid-February.

[keep-it-cool]

Title sponsorship expected to fetch Rs200cr over five years

http://www.livemint.com/2008/02/05234905/Top-companies-get-ready-to-pla.html

New Delhi / Mumbai: Major companies such as PepsiCo India, Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, ICICI Bank Ltd, Hero Honda Motors Ltd, Future Group and real estate developer DLF Ltd are all in the race to acquire title sponsorship rights to the Twenty20 Indian Premier League (IPL), the domestic cricket league launched by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The last date for submitting the bids is 13 February and IPL has set a fee of Rs3 crore from those wanting to participate in the bidding process.
Winners will be announced on the same day.
Besides the title sponsorship, the other rights that will be up for grabs include official, umpire and IPL team uniform sponsorships. These rights, however, will be sold by sports marketing agency IMG, which is the official marketing partner for IPL.
“Several leading advertisers are in the race for title sponsorship. I can’t disclose their names, though,” said Dheeraj Malhotra, marketing and tournament manager for IPL. “Besides the regular cricket advertisers, some leading banks and telecom companies are also in the fray for the rights,” said Malhotra.
Two top executives at two different media buying houses claimed BCCI had set Rs23.6 crore as the base price for rights to the sponsorship. Some media buyers expect the bids to go as high as Rs40 crore.
“We expect to generate Rs200 crore over the next five years from title sponsorship,” claimed Malhotra.
IPL plans a big launch of the tournament, which starts 18 April. It has hired Ogilvy & Mather and Maxus, as its creative and media buying partners, to put together a glitzy advertising and marketing campaign across various media platforms. Executives from these two agencies said Rs120-160 crore are likely to spent be on marketing the event this year itself.
Pepsi and Hero Honda are regular cricket sponsors while retailer Future Group announced last year it will spend around Rs150 crore on cricket advertising over the next three years.
“We believe IPL is going to be a big initiative in the world of cricket and we are very excited about the opportunities it offers. With cricket as one of Pepsi’s leading communication pillars, we are keen to associate with such opportunities that come our way,” said Sandeep Singh Arora, executive vice-president (marketing, cola), PepsiCo India. “IPL is an interesting property and every marketer worth its salt is evaluating it right now,” added Deepika Warrier, marketing director, PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd, Fritolay division.
Other advertisers, however, were more guarded. “We are evaluating IPL. It goes without saying that cricket is a very powerful marketing tool for any company,” said a senior executive at Future Group, not wanting to be named because he was not authorized to speak with media.
The IPL tournament will have 59 matches spread over 44 days, with two matches every Saturday and Sunday. Eight official teams—for New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Mohali, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Kolkata—have already been announced.

[cricinfo]

Title sponsorship expected to fetch Rs200cr over five years

http://www.livemint.com/2008/02/05234905/Top-companies-get-ready-to-pla.html

New Delhi / Mumbai: Major companies such as PepsiCo India, Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, ICICI Bank Ltd, Hero Honda Motors Ltd, Future Group and real estate developer DLF Ltd are all in the race to acquire title sponsorship rights to the Twenty20 Indian Premier League (IPL), the domestic cricket league launched by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The last date for submitting the bids is 13 February and IPL has set a fee of Rs3 crore from those wanting to participate in the bidding process.
Winners will be announced on the same day.
Besides the title sponsorship, the other rights that will be up for grabs include official, umpire and IPL team uniform sponsorships. These rights, however, will be sold by sports marketing agency IMG, which is the official marketing partner for IPL.
“Several leading advertisers are in the race for title sponsorship. I can’t disclose their names, though,” said Dheeraj Malhotra, marketing and tournament manager for IPL. “Besides the regular cricket advertisers, some leading banks and telecom companies are also in the fray for the rights,” said Malhotra.
Two top executives at two different media buying houses claimed BCCI had set Rs23.6 crore as the base price for rights to the sponsorship. Some media buyers expect the bids to go as high as Rs40 crore.
“We expect to generate Rs200 crore over the next five years from title sponsorship,” claimed Malhotra.
IPL plans a big launch of the tournament, which starts 18 April. It has hired Ogilvy & Mather and Maxus, as its creative and media buying partners, to put together a glitzy advertising and marketing campaign across various media platforms. Executives from these two agencies said Rs120-160 crore are likely to spent be on marketing the event this year itself.
Pepsi and Hero Honda are regular cricket sponsors while retailer Future Group announced last year it will spend around Rs150 crore on cricket advertising over the next three years.
“We believe IPL is going to be a big initiative in the world of cricket and we are very excited about the opportunities it offers. With cricket as one of Pepsi’s leading communication pillars, we are keen to associate with such opportunities that come our way,” said Sandeep Singh Arora, executive vice-president (marketing, cola), PepsiCo India. “IPL is an interesting property and every marketer worth its salt is evaluating it right now,” added Deepika Warrier, marketing director, PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd, Fritolay division.
Other advertisers, however, were more guarded. “We are evaluating IPL. It goes without saying that cricket is a very powerful marketing tool for any company,” said a senior executive at Future Group, not wanting to be named because he was not authorized to speak with media.
The IPL tournament will have 59 matches spread over 44 days, with two matches every Saturday and Sunday. Eight official teams—for New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Mohali, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Kolkata—have already been announced.

is there a chaddi-banyan sponsorship scheme? or what about toilet paper sponsorship for individual players ?

[keep-it-cool]

Hehe cricket sells big time in india. I am sure there will be a lot more over the years.

[keep-it-cool]

JFK can watch the first match live, if interested, while I get to watch the semis & finals

http://content-www.cricinfo.com/baggygreen/content/story/335558.html

The Indian Premier League is sticking to its stance of no protection for national team sponsors. Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman and commissioner, said Cricket Australia's concerns over its contracted players endorsing rival sponsors was a matter for CA to resolve with Australian players.

Modi, who was speaking after a meeting in Mumbai between IPL officials and franchise owners, also said the league's governing council now had the option of waiving the two-year waiting period for newly retired players after receiving a green signal from the Indian board.

"No team sponsors will get protection from IPL. No, no and no," Modi said. "We [IPL and CA] don't have any row. It's between them [Australian players and CA]. The [teams'] clothing will have sponsors' logos similar to that of the Indian national team."

CA wants its global sponsors' rights to be protected when Australian players take part in the IPL. However, Modi has repeatedly warned CA that it was jeopardising its players' future with the IPL as the league would, if necessary, go ahead without Australian participation.

The proposed waiver of the two-year clause - a player cannot take part in the league for two years after his retirement unless he gets a no-objection certificate from his home cricket board - paves the way for the likes of Adam Gilchrist to play in the IPL immediately after his retirement in March.

"The BCCI has left it to the IPL chairman if the cooling off needs to be waived," Modi added, "We have not decided yet on it."

At the end of the meeting, at which the IPL governing council discussed the tournament format, marketing strategies and guidelines with the franchise owners and representatives of the match staging associations, Modi announced details of the league's schedule.

The IPL will kick off with the industrialist Vijay Mallya's Bangalore outfit taking on the Kolkata team, owned by actor Shah Rukh Khan, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on April 18. The final, on June 1, and the two semi-finals on the preceding two days, will be held in Mumbai - in all probability at the Brabourne Stadium.

"Seven or eight ICC Elite Panel umpires along with 16 Indian umpires would officiate in the tournament," Modi said. "The match referees are being appointed and we already have the anti-corruption and anti-doping measures in place."

Modi also said that as a pioneering move, the IPL will sell tickets through the internet and on mobile phone networks. "Ticketpro, a world renowned ticketing agency who did the ticketing for the Bangalore Test [against Pakistan], has been entrusted with the task of selling tickets for IPL matches. It will be done on-line and through mobiles."

Modi said that the title sponsors for the event would be decided on February 13 while the date for the players' auction would be decided on February 9 after another round of meeting with the franchise owners when the various contracted players availability will be disclosed.

[keep-it-cool]

http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/09/stories/2008020960132100.htm

IPL T20 final to be held in Mumbai

Special Correspondent

Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)-promoted Indian Premier League T20 competition will open with a match between the Bangalore and Kolkata regions at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, on April 18.

The semifinal finals (May 30 & 31) and the final (June 1) will be played at Mumbai. In all, 10 matches will be held in Mumbai — seven home league matches apart from the semifinals and final.

IPL sources said that Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), which won the Mumbai region for $111.9 million for 10 years, had a major say in choosing the venue of the three knock-out matches. The franchise bid document had made it explicit that the highest bidder will have the prerogative to choose the venue for the final weekend matches of the league.

Moreover, the logistics aspect was also considered before Mumbai was chosen as the venue.

“It’s up to the eight franchisees to decide on the team name and they will announce it after receiving the approval from the IPL governing council. They have been given the guidelines document,” said Lalit Modi, Chairman and Commissioner, IPL and vice-president, BCCI.

The Brabourne Stadium, Cricket Club of India (CCI), is almost certain to be the venue for all the three knock-out games, but there’s a possibility of one of the semifinals being held at the D. Y. Patil Stadium at Navi Mumbai.

The IPL is also likely to rescind the two-year cooling-off period that prevented a cricketer from playing in the league for two years after his retirement from international cricket.

“The BCCI today gave the IPL the mandate to withdraw the two-year cooling time. It’s up to me and the governing council to take the next course of action,” said Modi.

First meeting


The eight franchisees and the other IPL partners had their first meeting at the Hilton Towers here on Friday. “Today, we informed the franchisees the complete operational aspects of the competition, including the branding aspect. Ogilvy and Mather and Mindshare presented the media campaigns they are going to run so that the franchisees can integrate their media campaigns with them.

“SONY-WSG, the official global broadcaster, made a presentation on the quality of pictures they will telecast and their marketing strategy. More than a hundred questions were asked by the franchisees, it was a good interaction with them.

“They were also told that Ticketpro will deal with the ticketing part of the IPL. The public can choose their seat numbers and buy tickets online and from their mobile phones for any of the matches. In Saturday’s meeting, the franchisees will be informed about the player-pool available,” added Modi.Seven or eight ICC Panel umpires, along with 16 Indian umpires, will officiate in the competition.

“We have finalised the umpires and match referee panel. It will be a mix of ICC and Indian officials. The ICC anti-corruption and security and anti-doping arrangements have all been finalised,” said Modi.

[keep-it-cool]

Shahrukh wants Gilly

http://cricket.indiatimes.com/Shah_Rukh_wants_Gilchrist_in_his_IPL_team_/articleshow/2769047.cms

MELBOURNE, February 9: Adam Gilchrist has become the most wanted player for the inaugural Indian Premier League with none other than Bollywood Superstar Shah Rukh Khan lining up for the signature of the retiring Australian great for his Kolkata team, according to a newspaper report.

Khan, who bought the Kolkata franchisee for $85 million last month, has told former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who will skipper the team, to sign Gilchrist for the Twenty20 competition, which begins on April 18, Herald Sun reported.

Gilchrist is one of the 11 Australians who have signed an expression of interest for playing in the IPL.

With the sponsorship conflict between CA and IPL organisers lingering on and Australia having commitments in Pakistan in March-April, Gilchrist could be the only Aussie player available for the cash-rich tournament.

Technically, there is also a two-year moratorium on retired players joining a franchisee team but it is understood that Gilchrist's playing in the IPL has become a mere formality after IPL organisers have hinted that they would waive the "cooling off" period in his case.

The report also claimed that Gilchrist can expect a base payment of $300,000, which could double or triple when the franchises bid for players, and he would be earning more in 44 days in the IPL than a full year of international action.

[justforkix]

Technically, there is also a two-year moratorium on retired players joining a franchisee team but it is understood that Gilchrist's playing in the IPL has become a mere formality after IPL organisers have hinted that they would waive the "cooling off" period in his case.

Of course. Because that would mean no McGrath, no Warnie also.....

[LosingNow]

Look at the schedule.. there is going to be some serious traveling going on here.

---
http://www.rediff.com///cricket/2008/feb/09sched.htm
Mumbai to host 10 Indian Premier League matches

PTI | February 09, 2008 | 22:09 IST


Mumbai would play host to 10 matches in the April 18-June 1 Indian Premier League that commences with the Bangalore-Kolkata cricket tie in the Karnataka capital.

Mumbai would play seven home matches, like all other franchises, besides hosting the semi-finals (May 30 and 31) and the June 1 final.

IPL's complete schedule:
April 18: Bangalore v Kolkata at Bangalore
April 19: Mohali v Chennai at Mohali and Delhi v Jaipur at Delhi
April 20: Mumbai v Bangalore at Mumbai; Kolkata v Hyderabad at Kolkata
April 21: Jaipur v Mohali at Jaipur
April 22: Hyderabad v Delhi at Hyderabad
April 23: Chennai v Mumbai at Chennai
April 24: Hyderabad v Jaipur at Hyderabad
April 25: Mohali v Mumbai at Mohali
April 26: Bangalore v Jaipur at Bangalore; Chennai v Kolkata at Chennai
April 27: Mumbai v Hyderabad at Mumbai; Mohali v Delhi at Mohali
April 28: Bangalore v Chennai at Bangalore
April 29: Kolkata v Mumbai at Kolkata
April 30: Delhi v Bangalore at Delhi.
May 1: Hyderabad v Mohali at Hyderabad; Jaipur v Kolkata at Jaipur
May 2: Chennai v Delhi at Chennai.
May 3: Hyderabad at Bangalore at Hyderabad; Mohali v Kolkata at Mohali
May 4: Mumbai v Delhi at Mumbai; Jaipur v Chennai at Jaipur
May 5: Bangalore v Mohali at Bangalore
May 6: Chennai v Hyderabad at Chennai
May 7: Mumbai v Jaipur at Mumbai
May 8: Delhi v Chennai at Delhi; Kolkata v Bangalore at Kolkata
May 9: Jaipur v Hyderabad at Jaipur
May 10: Bangalore v Mumbai at Bangalore; Chennai v Mohali at Chennai
May 11: Hyderabad v Kolkata at Hyderabad; Jaipur v Delhi at Jaipur
May 12: Mohali v Bangalore at Mohali
May 13: Kolkata v Delhi at Kolkata
May 14: Mumbai v Chennai at Mumbai; Mohali v Jaipur at Mohali
May 15: Delhi v Hyderabad at Delhi
May 16: Mumbai v Kolkata at Mumbai
May 17: Delhi v Mohali at Delhi; Jaipur v Bangalore at Jaipur
May 18: Hyderabad v Mumbai at Hyderabad; Kolkata v Chenna at Kolkata
May 19: Bangalore v Delhi at Bangalore
May 20: Kolkata v Jaipur at Kolkata
May 21: Mumbai v Mohali at Mumbai; Chennai v Bangalore at Chennai
May 22: Delhi v Kolkata at Delhi
May 23: Mohali v Hyderabad at Mohali.
May 24: Delhi v Mumbai at Delhi; Chennai v Jaipur at Chennai
May 25: Bangalore v Hyderabad at Bangalore; Kolkata v Mohali at Kolkata
May 26: Jaipur v Mumbai at Jaipur
May 27: Hyderabad v Chennai at Hyderabad
May 28 and 29: Rest days
May 30: First semi-final at Mumbai
May 31: Second semi-final at Mumbai
June 1: Final at Mumbai

[OldPal]

While we realize that these are day an night matches .. but this would still be roasting exercise(for goras travelling) apart form the matches in Bangalore and may be Kolkata.. hmmm ..the schedulde runs till june

[LosingNow]

Looks like English and WI players will not play in IPL due to overlap with their seasons.

This year it is NZ vs England and Australia vs WI.. so no players from these countries.

Wonder what will happen in 2011 when India has to travel to WI?

[keep-it-cool]

Wonder what will happen in 2011 when India has to travel to WI?

anything where india is involved will be rescheduled ... just as the asia cup was this year

[dextrous]

Looks like English and WI players will not play in IPL due to overlap with their seasons.

This year it is NZ vs England and Australia vs WI.. so no players from these countries.

Wonder what will happen in 2011 when India has to travel to WI?

well, let's see if this oversponsored circus lasts that long!

[keep-it-cool]

Apparently an offer was put in front of all team owners during the last meeting - some corporate house put forward an offer to buy any one of the franchises for US$130m!!!