After their stints on the field, former cricketers don many roles, ranging from commentators to coaches but they never get a chance to play on the field again. However, Legends League Cricket (LLC) is changing that scenario.
LLC is bringing back yesteryear stars like Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan, and Brett Lee to play the game for their fans.
The new league which is focusing on two structures, including the Tri-nation format that took place in January this year, is now working on the franchise format for its second season starting September 16.
"The plan was to do two events a year, including the franchise model. Currently, there are four teams participating in the league. As we go forward, we will expand the teams to six by next September," Raman Raheja, CEO and Co-Founder, Legends League Cricket, told Moneycontrol.
The franchise model
Franchise owners in the upcoming season are Adani Sportsline that bought Gujarat Giants, GMR Sport that owns India Capitals, Manipal Group and Bhilwara Group that own Manipal Tigers and Bhilwara Kings, respectively.
"A couple of months ago when we floated the idea of the franchise model we had shortlisted about 17 corporates, and four of them were already in the business of sports. The likes of GMR and Adani wanted to expand their presence in sports. GMR has extended the same brand of UAE T20 league where they call their franchise Dubai Capitals, and for LLC they call their team India Capitals," said Raheja.
He added that franchise owners are trying to use the fanbase of the former cricketers who have a strong social media following. "Players of India Capitals team have a reach of 200 million followers. The Dubai team (Dubai Capitals) would take at least five-six years to achieve that followership."
Breaking even
As for team owners like the Manipal Group, Raheja said that they wanted to try out the sports space but not with heavy investments. "While cricket is an expensive business, we wanted to make it lucrative for franchises, and it (LLC) is a low-ticket investment. We are seeing that they (franchises) should be breaking even in season one."
Along with the franchises, the CEO is looking to break even in the first year of the launch of the league.
"We are at 1/10th the cost of other cricket leagues of the world and no comparisons to IPL (Indian Premier League). I am talking about the likes of UAE T20 League. Last season, investment was $7 million (in LLC), and this season that number is expected to be $15 million. There is a chance of making a breakeven scenario," he said.
He also pointed out that unlike the auction model in IPL, they followed the draft model for player selection which keeps costs low.
The players’ draft included 79 cricketers and each team had a purse of Rs 8 crore. Each team had to submit their squad wherein they can buy more players with the available purse.
Among the teams, Manipal Tigers spent Rs 6.91 crore, India Capitals spent Rs 6.38 crore, Gujarat Giants put in Rs 5.51 crore on their players, and Bhilwara Kings paid Rs 5.62 crore.
Player pool
Raheja said the player pool is also increasing with more former cricketers willing to get back on the field following the launch of season one.
He noted that over 240 million fans watched season one on TV and digital, and over 400 million consumed the content on social media across the world.
"After season one, we got a good response from fans and viewership. So that made some of the cricketers look at this option. Today, I have a scenario where cricketers have signed up for the next four seasons. We had about 59 cricketers in season one, and today I have a pool of 110 cricketers and the number is going to grow," he said.
While there was a bit of a concern from both international as well Indian cricketers to be back on the field, foreign players were fitter than the Indian lot and that's where the willingness to go out and play competitive cricket was more, said Raheja.
"As a result of this, we saw that World Giants won the title (against India Maharajas and Asia Lions). But now things have changed as every single Indian player in the pool has been practicing. Now, I am seeing a good pipeline of Indian cricketers who want to be part of LLC," he said.
Sourav Ganguly who signed up to play the benefit match on the opening day of the league was unable to go for practice due to work commitments.
"He felt that it is not going to be good to be with players who are going to play competitive cricket and said that as he is not practicing he would rather be present on the ground and cheer the teams," said Raheja.
The league's co-founder also expects the audience base of LLC to grow as the second season is scheduled in multiple venues. "Currently, we are looking at six cities in India (for season two), which means more visibility for the league, and that helps us expand our audience base. While there is more logistics cost, it also means wider audience."
He pointed out that on day one when the tickets went live online, more than 4,000 tickets were sold for the first match of the league.
Raheja, who started the league to bring back former cricket stars on the field, said he wants them to be visible on the field at least twice a year.
"A few years ago, I was dreading that my favourite MS Dhoni was going to retire, and as fans we all go through such things. These cricketers who have been performing for all these years suddenly go off the radar and are unable to compete with fitter younger boys. In some cases, they are forced to retire early. So, the idea was to extend their career by at least four-five years."