Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

Bangalore’s Royal Challengers expect to end
the inaugural year of the Twenty20 Indian Premier League (IPL) with a deficit of
about Rs 25-30 crore, its chief executive said. The sharing of tickets between
the stakeholders has emerged as a bone of contention ahead of the first match on
April 18. The UB Group, which won the franchise with a $111.6 million bid, sees
Royal Challengers breaking even in six years, team’s chief executive Charu
Sharma told ET.

“It’s not as bright as many other people
would like it to be. We will probably make a $6-7-million loss in the first
year. That’s about Rs 25-30 crore. The difference between earnings and
expenditure is significant,” he said. “If merchandising and support
to the team picks up and if a lot of other activities pick up then it may be
four to six years to break even if not more. That’s OK, it’s an
expensive league.”

Its really a tough financial call for all franchisees and lets see who survives till the end. Cricket loving people are sure in for many more treats given that people like SRK, Ness Wadia and Vijay Mallaya are involved in the fray.