Indian Premier League woos celebs, biz bigwigs

The suspense is over and BCCI has finally laid the cards on table. Shahrukh Khan, Mukesh Ambani and Vijay Mallya have bagged some of the bids and it would be interesting to see how they fare in this uncharted territory. Analysis can wait, let's get the facts first.

I Thought I should share the BCCI release that landed in my inbox with you all (excerpts):

• Bids were received from: Red Chillies Entertainment, DLF, UB Group, Deccan Chronicle Holdings, GMR Holdings, RIL, India Cements, Deutsche Bank, Emeralds Telecoms, Priety Zinta and Emerging Media (UK).

• Late bids were received from: Sahara India, Future Group, ICICI Ventures

IPL Franchise Winners Are (And How Much They Are To Shell Out)

• Delhi – GMR Holdings at USD$ 84 m

• Mumbai – RIL Pvt Ltd at USD$ 111.9 m

• Chennai – The India Cements Ltd at USD$ 91m

• Bangalore – UB Group at USD$ 111.6 m

• Mohali – Preity Zinta/Ness Wadia/Karan Paul/ Mohit Burman at USD$ 76 m

• Jaipur – Emerging Media at USD$ 67 m

• Hyderabad – The Deccan Chronicle at USD$ 107.01

• Kolkata – Shahrukh Khan/Juhi Chawla/Jay Mehta at USD$75.09m

Some other points:

• Each Franchisee bid to own teams in any 8 of the 12 cities that satisfy the eligibility criteria

• The 12 cities are: Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Cuttack, Kanpur, Gwalior, Mohali, Jaipur, Delhi, Hyderabad

• IPL has contracted the Top 80 Players according to ICC Rankings

• The IPL Player Auction to be held in Feb ’08, and will allow each Franchisee to bid for the Indian national team and overseas players contracted by the IPL

• A maximum of 8 overseas players will be allowed per Franchisee

• The Franchisees in consultation with IPL will finalize the appropriate Names for the Teams

• Team Names will be associated with the city or area they are based in

• The tournament will begin on 18th April ‘08

• There will be 59 matches spread over 44 days, with 2 matches every Saturday and every Sunday

• IPL franchisees to get following returns:

• 1. Central revenues:

• a. 80% of TV revenues in Yrs 1-5, and 60% from Yrs 5-10

• b. 60% of Sponsorship revenues from Yrs 1-10

• 2. 100% of Local revenues: Gate revenues, Franchisee Shirt sponsorship, Local sponsorship, Licensing programme, Uniform Merchandising, Hospitality and Premium seating, Match-day Concessions, Match-day promotions, Franchise media platforms.

• Till Date IPL has successfully raised a total of USD$ 1.749 billion which is INR 6996 crores.