Reports | BCCI advises franchises to prepare for a mega auction; a new team likely

The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League ended up as one of the most successful and most-watched tournaments ever, with the BARC rating sky-rocketing at the prime time television. But with another edition lurking around the corner, there was always a lack of clarity surrounding the mega auction, with a couple of franchises asking the BCCI to defer it for a year.

However, if a report on the New Indian Express is to be believed then the BCCI is preparing to have a full-fledged mega auction ahead of the season, with the addition of another team to the roaster. The report indicated that the BCCI is planning to have the auction in January or mid-February so that franchisees get time to plan ahead of the 2021 edition that will run in Indian summer.

“The BCCI has told us to be prepared for an auction in a couple of months. Though it is not official, that they have asked us to be ready means they will go ahead as planned. Moreover, with a new team coming in, it makes sense to have an auction now rather than deferring it by a year,” a franchise official said.

With Motera reinventing itself to have a capacity of 1,10,000, the venue is all set to be home for a new franchise, with corporates already setting themselves to own the team. However, that will not affect the retention ability of the franchises because it might compromise on the team’s brand value.

“The retention policy should continue even if a new team comes in because at this stage, it won’t be wise to have all players in the auction pool. Teams will have to compromise on the brand value which is built on their star players,” said another franchise official.