By IANS
Mumbai : World Sport Group (WSG) and Sony MAX have bagged the global audio-visual rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for 10 years for $1.026 billion, the Indian cricket board announced here Monday.
Making the announcement, IPL chairman and commissioner as well as vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Lalit Modi said WSG-Sony outbid Network Solutions Pvt. Ltd., a consortium led by NDTV and ESPN-Star Sports.
“We are absolutely delighted that, after an open and transparent process, we have what we believe to be the best deal for the IPL and Indian cricket fans. All the bids received were of a very high standard and we would like to thank all of the organisations for their submissions,” Modi said.
“However, the IPL governing council was unanimous in its view that the Sony Max & World Sport Group bid was the best, and we believe that the IPL will significantly benefit from the agreement.”
On the Twenty20 format, eight franchises will play 59 matches in 44 days in the inaugural edition, starting April 18.
The teams will play against each other on a home-and-away basis with seven matches being played at home. The top four franchises in the league will contest the semi-finals and the winners will meet in the final. All matches will be played over the weekends.
Kunal Dasgupta, CEO Sony Entertainment Television India, was thrilled at the acquisition.
“We are absolutely delighted to bring the exciting IPL line-up of Indian and international cricketers to millions of cricket fans globally. At Sony Max & WSG we have done some pioneering work in showcasing cricket in an entertaining and informative way and we will continue to innovate and extend the excitement of cricket through the IPL. We are honoured,” he said.
The IPL governing council will now open franchise bids. But as many global entities have evinced interest in IPL franchise ownership, the BCCI and the council have decided to extend the last date for submission and opening of bids from Jan 18 to Jan 24 when all tenders would be opened, Modi said.
A total of 177 hours of live “family entertainment” will be on offer during 59 matches. All matches will be played during late afternoon and evening to coincide with prime time for television and providing a convenient time for the stadium audiences.
Many top players from overseas, like Shane Warne, Glen McGrath, Stephen Fleming, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya, Graeme Smith, Daniel Vettori, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammed Yousuf, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chaminda Vaas, Shaun Pollock, Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan will be seen in action in the IPL.
Besides Modi, the other governing council members are former BCCI president I.S. Bindra, BCCI vice-presidents Chirayu Amin and Rajeev Shukla, Delhi and District Cricket Association president Arun Jaitely and former India captains Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri.
All BCCI office-bearers are ex-officio members of the IPL.
The governing council, which has been appointed for five years, will run and operate the IPL as a virtual company. The IPL hopes to grow the eight franchises to 16 by 2010.