CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Premier League has received positive response from several quarters. Corporates from different fields have shown interest in owning teams. However, one big name could still go missing.
“The response has been tremendous. Inquiries are pouring in. People from the city, corporates, football and flat promoters, industrialists from the districts have shown interest. But India Cements may not bid for a team in order to avoid conflict of interest,” said a highly-placed source in the TNCA. Although TNCA president N Srinivasan has disassociated himself from India Cements, sources felt his long association with the company may lead to disruptive talks.
“The revenue sharing model is in a nascent stage. It’ll be similar to that of IPL. We may share profits from the central revenue. But it’s early to state any specific sharing percentage. This year, we’ll have games at two venues. We want to see the tournament become a platform for our boys to excel in more popular versions of the game,” added the source.
U Prabhakar Rao, TNCA vice-president, believes the tournament will help the game become more popular in the districts. “It’ll help the sport grow at the district level and more talent will be unearthed. It will be run professionally. We’ve already appointed a CEO.”
The Sanmar Group that owns two teams (Jolly Rovers, Alwarpet CC) in the TNCA league will bid for a team. While many don’t know how much it would cost to run a team, Bharath Reddy gave an insight.
“We’ll most certainly bid for a team. The franchise fee is about Rs 1.25 crore for five years. Assembling players from the auction could cost around Rs 25 lakh. If we play in the city and districts, it’ll be another Rs 20 lakh,” informed the in-charge of cricket operations at Sanmar.