A purse of ₹ 25 lakh awaits the winner of Kerala Tourism’s Indian Premier League (IPL)-modelled three-month long Champions Boat League (CBL) in 13 backwater venues across the State from August 11.
The runner-up would get a cash prize of ₹15 lakh and the team reaching the third spot will get ₹10 lakh, Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran announced here on Monday after unveiling the official logo and the short promotion film for the CBL.
The hike in the cash prizes was on the basis of the decision of the State-level high-power committee to promote the CBL as a product of the monsoon tourism season and to increase the footfalls to the State, the Minister said.
Kerala Tourism has stepped in to organise the CBL, as the boat races were facing financial crisis despite the patronage. All the races will be held between 2.30 p.m. and 5.30 p.m and on Saturdays, except the one at Poothotta in Ernakulam district.
The nine snake boats that emerge with the best timings in the famed Nehru Trophy Boat Race to be held in Punnamada Lake in Alappuzha on August 11 will participate in the succeeding 12 races of the maiden CBL. The title clash is scheduled at Kollam as part of the President’s Trophy race on November 1.
The league races will be at Punnamdada (August 11), Pulinkunnu (August 18), Karuvatta (August 28), Kottapuram (September 1), Thazhathangadi (September 8), Poothotta (September 15), Piravom (September 22), Kainakari (September 29), Kavanattinkara (October 6), Mavelikkara (October 13), Kayankulam (October 20), Kallada (October 27) and Kollam (November 1).
Those team that emerge in the first three places in the venues will get a purse of ₹5 lakh, ₹3 lakh and ₹1 lakh respectively. Each of the teams that qualify for the league will be given a bonus of ₹4 lakh per venue.
In each venue of the league, there will be three heats, a final and a loser’s final involving the teams that come in the fourth, fifth and sixth places. The CBL winners will be selected on the basis of the cumulative points. The expected expense for organising the Kerala Boat Race league is ₹20 crore. An amount of ₹10 crore has already been earmarked in the budget. The rest of the amount will be garnered through sponsorships.
Secretary, Tourism, Rani George said the request for proposal (RFP) had been floated for selecting the sporting management agency for branding, promotion and positioning the CBL as a national event for the next five years. Director of Tourism, P. Bala Kiran, said a gallery with a seating capacity of 5,000 would be set up in all the venues by Tourism department.