BCCI floats tender for a new IPL franchise

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday issued tender notice for a new franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL), after it got a go-ahead from the Bombay High Court on the termination of the Deccan Chargers.

The tender notice for a fresh franchise, which was published in leading dailies, invites bids in respect of 12 cities, which also include Hyderabad. The other cities are: Ahmedabad, Cuttack, Dharamsala, Indore, Kanpur, Kochi, Nagpur, Noida, Rajkot, Ranchi and Visakhapatnam.

Though the base price and other technical details are available in the tender document, BCCI sources say the price will be in the range of Rs 300-350 crore for five years, much less than the base price in the last auction (over Rs 1,000 crore) when two new teams, Pune and Kochi, were formed.

“Still, it will be a gain for BCCI, as from Deccan Chargers, it would have got a total of Rs 214 crore in the next five years,” a source adds. Also, the new team will have to share 60 per cent of the League’s central revenue pool, like the initial eight teams.

“Under this invitation to tender, the winning bidder will be granted the right to own and operate a new team, which will compete in the IPL in each year from and including 2013 onwards, and will have the opportunity (if applicable and subject to qualification) to compete in each and any Champions League T20 which is staged from 2013 onwards,” BCCI said in the advertisement.

It clarifies that all bidding parties will need to fulfil the eligibility criteria and other requirements specified in the invitation.

“Bids must be submitted at 12 noon on Thursday, October 25. The winning bids will be announced in the manner set out in the invitation to tender,” the BCCI ad further added.

BCCI had won the first legal battle against the cash-strapped Deccan Chargers on October 13, after one-month of terminating the contract of the franchise. Deccan Chronicles Holdings Ltd (DCHL), the beleaguered-promoter of the Deccan Chargers had moved the Bombay High Court after BCCI had terminated its contract on September 14. Later, the court appointed an arbitrator and also asked the promoters to furnish a bank guarantee of Rs 100 crore to BCCI. However, the promoters failed to get the bank guarantee within the stipulated time and the stay by court on the termination lapsed on October 13, thereby ending the franchise contract.