IPL New Teams Auction: How to buy an Indian Premier League team? Bidding process explained

The Indian Premier League 2022 will have two new franchises competing for the trophy. The IPL governing body had called for bids to acquire the right of two new teams for the upcoming season. A total of 22 groups are said to be bidding for two teams in approximately six possible cities. Here's a look at how prospective buyers purchase an IPL team.

According to an Espncricinfo report, the minimum bid price for each of the new franchises will be INR 2,000 crore (USD 270 million approx) and that there are six cities in the fray, including Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Guwahati and Cuttack. The BCCI, in its release, said that detailed terms and conditions governing the submission and evaluation of bids, including eligibility requirements, the process for submissions of bids, proposed new teams’ rights, and obligations, etc. are contained in the ‘Invitation to Tender’ (“ITT”) which will be made available on receipt of payment of INR 10 lakhs.

According to PTI, BCCI will be expecting the bid for the IPL 2022 new teams to go from INR 7,000 crore to INR 10,000 crore each once the bidding process for the new IPL teams begins on Monday. As per the report, 22 companies have picked up tender documents worth INR 10 lakh but with the base price for two IPL 2022 new teams being around INR 2,000 crore, the board is expecting only five to six serious bidders for new IPL teams. The report further states that it is unclear whether the BCCI will announce the name of the successful bidders on Monday itself after doing the technical evaluation.

The Cities and Groups involved

The six cities that could potentially be the homes for the new teams are Ahmedabad, Dharamsala, Lucknow, Indore, Cuttack and Guwahati. Based on various reports, at least 22 groups are bidding for two teams with the likes of Lancer Capital, Adani Group, Jindal Steel, Hindustan Times Media, trying to buy one of the teams. The Lancer Capital group is one of the biggest ones trying to get their hands on a team; they are owned by Avram Glazer, who is also the owner of Manchester United from the Premier League and Tampa Bay Buccaneers from the NFL. Also fighting for a team in the IPL is the Ahemdabad-based infrastructure giants, Adani Group and Sanjeev Goenka-owned business conglomerate RPSG, who previously owned the Pune franchise for two seasons. 

(Image: BCCI/IPL)