IPL gets two new teams for the 2016 and 2017 editions
Two new franchises roped in for Rajasthan and Chennai
The supremely popular and equally controversial Indian Premier League (IPL) announced two new franchises for the next two seasons. The Sanjiv Goenka-owned New Rising consortium and mobile phone manufacturer Intex on Tuesday joined the high-profile IPL bandwagon as Pune and Rajkot became the two new franchises, replacing the suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for a period of two years.
The Pune franchise was bought by Kolkata-based business tycoon Goenka’s company New Rising while the Rajkot bid was won by Intex Mobiles in the reverse bidding process in which the two teams were chosen. Goenka will shell out Rs 16 crore per year to the BCCI while Intex Mobiles will pay Rs 10 crore.
The teams were sold through the reverse bidding process for which the base price was set at Rs 40 crore, and bidders had to quote an amount less than the base price. According to the BCCI, New Rising and Intex were picked as they submitted the only “negative bids” — they won’t avail of BCCI funding. Goenka will pay Rs 16 crore for the franchise, while Intex will pay Rs 10 crore per year.
The owners of both these teams said that they hope to be associated with the IPL post-2017, too, once their two-year terms expire. This is, perhaps, the biggest motivation for these two interim franchisees, sources said.
