The Indian cricket board will be expecting the two new IPL franchises to go for anything between ₹7,000 crore and ₹10,000 crore each after the bidding process begins on October 25. It is still not clear whether the BCCI will announce the successful bidders on the day itself after doing the technical evaluation of the bids.
There are 22 companies which have picked up tender document worth ₹10 lakh but with base price for new teams pegged at ₹2,000 crore, there is expected to be only five to six serious bidders in fray.
The BCCI is also allowing a consortium of up to three companies/individuals to bid for a franchise.
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However, in case of an individual or company, that particular entity's annual turnover should be minimum ₹3,000 crore and in case of consortium, each of the three entities should have an annual turnover of ₹2,500 crore.
In this scenario, one of India's richest business tycoon Gautam Adani and his Adani Group are expected to bid for the Ahmedabad franchise. Adani Group, if they finally put up a bid, are the favourites to own a new franchise.
Similarly, RPSG group which is headlined by billionaire Sanjiv Goenka are also considered to be serious bidders for a new franchise. Whether RPSG would have any individual or other company as a part of consortium is still not known.
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"Gautam Adani and Sanjiv Goenka are the biggest names in the Indian industry. They will be serious bidders. Expect a minimum bid of ₹3,500 crore from the potential bidders. Don't forget that IPL broadcast rights is projected around $5 billion [₹36,000 Crore].”
"So the economics will work accordingly as franchises get the TV revenue share equally," a BCCI insider tracking the developments told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
For the record, Goenka owned the Pune Franchise Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) for two years and is also the owner of ISL franchise ATK Mohun Bagan.
There has been buzz that Lancer group, which is owned by Manchester United owner Avram Glazer, has also picked up the bid document.
The other notable companies which are in fray comprise Kotak group, pharmaceutical majors Aurobindo Pharma and Torrent group.
The two cities that are favourites in terms of stadium capacity are Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera with more than 1,00,000 capacity while the other is Ekana Stadium in Lucknow with 70,000 capacity.
The other cities in the hunt are Indore, Guwahati, Cuttack, Dharamsala and Pune.
A former India opener may join one of the consortiums which is expected to be serious bidders for the new franchises.
"Yes, a former India opener is ready to shell out around ₹300 crore and buy a minority stake if the consortium he is part of is able to successfully bid for a new team. He comes from a business family and he does want to invest in a cricket team. He is a distinguished player in his own right and also understands how the franchisee universe works," the BCCI source said.