Sri Lanka Cricket has auctioned the seven Sri Lanka Premier League teams
for an average price of $4.3 million, an SLC official has said.
However, the names of the successful bidders, along with their
respective teams, will only be announced once they have been approved by
SLC's executive committee.
The prices of the franchises represent a substantial increase over the
cost of teams in the Bangladesh Premier League, where six teams were
sold for $6.49 million, with none of them going for much more than the
base price of $1 million. However, the figures still pale in comparison
to the IPL, which had its first eight teams bring in $723 million.
One crucial difference between the SLPL and the IPL is that the teams
have only been leased for an initial period of seven years and not sold
outright. At the end of the period, the franchisees will need to sign a
fresh agreement but will have the first right of refusal. The reserve
price for the franchises had been set at $3 million.
In order to determine the teams, the franchises will take part in the
player draft, to be held on July 5 and 6. A lottery will be held to
determine the order in which players are picked. SLC will determine the
value of the contract for each player in advance and the franchises will
be made aware of the cost of the player. The players are likely to be
drafted in two groups - the first consisting of players from Sri Lanka
and the second all the foreign players. The draft is being seen as the
best way to ensure that players are evenly distributed among the teams,
making it a level playing field.
The SLPL was supposed to kick off last year. However, the Sri Lankan
board was forced to postpone the tournament after the BCCI refused to
allow its players to participate at the last minute, causing a delay in
the naming of the final composition of the teams and affecting overall
preparations for the event. In addition, SLC's interim committee that
signed the deal was subsequently replaced and there was criticism of
some of the clauses in the contract with Somerset Entertainment Ventures
by the parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE). A new
contract was subsequently signed earlier this year.
The SLPL starts on August 10, with the final to be held on August 31. There will be 24 games in total, split between Colombo and Pallekele.
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