The Indian Premier League (IPL) has expanded itself with the two new sets of teams to join the bandwagon after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) awarded the franchise rights on Monday.
A Kolkata-based business conglomerate paid a whopping Rs 7,090 crore for Lucknow. While CVC Capital Partners, a European equity firm with diverse interests in sports, piped the favourite Adani Group in the race for Ahmedabad. While the Adani Group submitted an identical bid for Rs 5,100 crores for Ahmedabad and Lucknow, CVC Capital came up with bids of Rs 5,625 crores and Rs 5,166 crores respectively.
IPL New Teams: RPSG Picks Lucknow, CVC Capital Picks Ahmedabad
As the IPL welcomes the new members, the two new franchises will participate in the team from the 2022 season, completing the post-bid formalities as specified in the ITT document. The IPM 2022 season will comprise ten teams and will have a total of 74 matches. Each team will get to play 7 home and 7 away matches.
BCCI President Welcomes New Teams
Soon after the bidding, the BCCI President, Mr Sourav Ganguly said that they are happy to welcome the new teams from the next season of the IPL. He further personally congratulated RPSG Ventures Ltd. & Irelia Company Pte Ltd for being the successful bidders.
He further added that it is heartening to have two new teams being added to the IPL at a high valuation which reiterates the cricketing and the financial strength of the cricket ecosystem. Ganguly added that the addition of the two new teams fulfils the motto of IPL, i.e, “Where Talent Meets Opportunity”.
About RPSG and CVC Capital
The RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group was founded back in 2011. It is an Indian multinational conglomerate company that is headquartered in Kolkata, India. Notably, the group previously owned the Rising Pune Supergiant franchise that was in existence for two years.
In 2020, the RPSG group brought a majority stake in Mohun Bagan Football Club. The group further owns RPSG Mavericks Kolkata, one of the six city-based teams in the Ultimate Table Tennis League.
Started 40 years ago in the year 1984, CVC Capital Partners is a private equity and investment advisory firm with its headquarters located in Luxembourg. The group recently made headlines as they made an investment of $3.2 billion in Spain’s La Liga. CVC also has current investments in the field of Rugby. Its most famous association was with Formula 1. The group acquired the racing championship for $1.7 billion and sold it in 2016 for $4.4 billion.
How Will the Addition of New Teams Affect IPL?
The right team IPL seasons (IPL 2021 included) have overseen 60 matches but the BCCI confirmed in a new release that the 2022 edition of the competition will see teams play a total of 74 games.
The BCCI informed in a release that the new franchises will participate in the IPL from 2022 seasons onwards, once the bidders complete the due procedure as specified in the ITT document. The IPL 2022 season will have 10 teams.
The two IPL franchises like the original eight in 2008 have been awarded the ownership rights in perpetuity with franchise fees to be paid in 10 equal annual installments.
In the latest update from the Indian Premier League (IPL) team bidding, it will now be a ten-team affair from the next season. The bidding took place at the Taj Hotel in Dubai on Monday. And RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group (RPSG), Lucknow and CVC Capital Partners, Ahmedabad will be joining the league as the new owners.
