On Sunday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) revealed the schedule and venues for the much-anticipated 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The cash-rich Indian top-tier league is scheduled to begin from April 9 and the finals will be played on 30th May. The biggest T20 tournament in the world will be played across six venues in India- Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Delhi and Ahmedabad. This year IPL Franchisees will be Loss around 25 cr to 30 cr from each team.
IPL 2021 to be played behind closed doors
The BCCI has decided that all the games in this year’s IPL will be played behind closed doors. This means, similar to last season, even this year the fans will not be allowed in the stadium. The following decision is being taken keeping the COVID-19 protocols in mind. The IPL Governing Council Chairman Brijesh Patel stated that the spectators won’t be allowed in any games and an official announcement will soon be made. Patel further added that BCCI might make changes in venues if any unfortunate event takes place in the future.
“Yes, I can confirm that there will be no spectators allowed for this season. Not for a single match. We will have a Governing Council meeting in the next two days to ratify these decisions. The decision to take Mumbai as a venue was difficult. But we believe things will improve. But we are keeping our options open (to opt for a replacement venue in case the situation goes out of hand,” Brijesh Patel told Inside Sport in an exclusive interview on Sunday evening.
How is it going to affect the IPL Franchisees & team revenue?
However, the aforementioned decision taken by the BCCI to keep the fans away from IPL 14 might inflict a heavy loss on the franchises. The franchises faced huge losses last year as well as all the games were played in the UAE. Not allowing the fans in the stadiums will directly reflect on the revenues the franchises earns via ticket sales. Some teams are also concerned that the decision might hurt their fan-following as well.
“Yes, after last year’s loss, we are a bit worried about this year’s revenue loss as well. I would say the loss could be around Rs 25 crore. But more than that we are going to lose our fans. That’s our biggest concern,” CSK CEO Kashi Viswanathan told InsideSport.co on Monday.
