No IPL matches in theatres this time

The governing body of the Indian Premier League (IPL) today said it will not be giving theatrical rights for the season four of the tournament that kicks off on April 8.

Meanwhile, leading multiplexes in the country, including PVR Cinemas, Cinemax and Big Cinemas are busy preparing for the screening of the World Cup final match on Saturday.

"This time we have decided not to sell theatrical rights for the IPL mathces," IPL Chief Executive Officer Sundar Raman told PTI.

He said there will be no screening of the IPL matches this summer unlike the earlier seasons, but did not specify reasons behind the decision.

According to the industry observers given the success of the World Cup matches, screening IPL matches in multiplexes would have been a good opportunity for fans to catch the cricket action away from the ground.

"It is an opportunity lost both for the fans and multiplex chains," Cinemax India CEO Sunil Punjabi said.

UFO Moviez had bagged the theatrical rights for the earlier seasons of IPL but its officials could not be reached for comments.

While the IPL is yet to begin, the cinema exhibitors are currently focusing on the final match between India and Sri Lanka which is drawing huge interest from fans.

"The semi-final match between India and Pakistan was shown at 31 PVR screens across India and for the finals we have a plan to increase it to 45 screens as the interest is really high," PVR Cine Media CEO Gautam Dutta said.

He said about extra 9,000 seats will be added by the company for the final match as compared to the semi-finals which saw a 98% occupancy.

"The match will definitely benefit us and it is a very good way to start the new financial year," Dutta said.

The minimum price for the match tickets is around Rs 350 but can vary from theatre to theatre.

Similarly, Big Cinemas owned by Reliance Mediaworks, despite the two new Bollywood releases today, is also increasing the number of seats for the World Cup match.

"The response to the semi-final World Cup match was phenomenal. For the final we have decided to increase the total number of seats by 30-40%," Big Cinemas COO Tushar Dhingra said.

Cinemax on the contrary is planning to reduce the number of screens for World Cup final screening because of the two Bollywood releases -- Game and Faltu.

"We had screened the semi-finals on 60 screens (16,000 seats), but since two new films have released today we have to accommodate them as well, so the number of screens will go down," Punjabi of Cinemax said.