IPL: RPSG bags Lucknow franchise for record bid, CVC gets Ahmedabad team

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced two new teams - Ahmedabad and Lucknow - for the Indian Premier League (IPL). After some intense bidding in Dubai on Monday, the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group got the Lucknow outfit for a record Rs 7090 crore bid, while CVC Capital bagged Ahmedabad for Rs 5625 crore.

Owned by Sanjiv Goenka, the RPSG group - which also owns ISL side ATK-Mohun Bagan - came up with a bid of Rs. 7090 crore - the highest among the ten bidders.

A total of 22 companies had bought the tender documents for Rs 10 lakh, but with the base price for the new teams has been pegged at Rs 2,000 crore, there were only nine bids.

"The BCCI is happy to welcome two new teams from the next season of the Indian Premier League. I would like to congratulate RPSG Ventures Ltd. & Irelia Company Pte Ltd for being the successful bidders. The IPL will now go to two new cities in India viz in Lucknow and Ahmedabad. It is heartening to see the inclusion of two new teams at such a high valuation, and it reiterates the cricketing and financial strength of our cricket ecosystem," BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly said.

"True to IPL’s motto of ‘Where Talent Meets Opportunity’, the inclusion of two new teams will bring more domestic cricketers from our country to the global stage. The ITT process included two interested bidders from outside of India, which strongly emphasises the global appeal of the IPL as a sports property. The IPL is proving to be a wonderful instrument in globalising the game of cricket. I am keenly looking forward to IPL 2022. "

READ: Intense bidding in the offing with top groups in fray

While the Adani Group, the RPSG, the Glazer family and Kotak group were the major companies which submitted the bid, Rhiti Sports Management - the company which earlier managed Mahendra Singh Dhoni - also submitted a bid for Cuttack. However, it is understood that the bid was not accepted because of late submission.

All the nine companies - the Adani Group, Kotak, All Cargo Logistics, Capri Global, Lancer Capital, Hindustan Media Ventures Limited, CVC, RPSG and Torrent Sports - were engaged in heavy bidding.

The bidders had to submit two envelopes - for personal and financial credentials and for the bid - and after checks by the legal and audit teams, the bids were opened.

The BCCI has allowed a consortium - up to three companies or individuals - to bid for a franchise, but then, each of the three entities should have an annual turnover of Rs 2,500 crore. For an individual or a company, the annual turnover should be a minimum of Rs 3,000 crore. 

The bids were initially meant to be opened on October 17, however, the deadline to buy tender documents was extended to October 20, which led to the delay.

The new franchises will participate in IPL from 2022 season onwards subject to the bidders completing the post-bid formalities as specified in the ITT document. The IPL 2022 season will comprise ten teams and will have 74 matches, wherein each team will play seven home and seven away matches.