The IPL showcased its financial might once again today when the 2 new franchises that were bought netted a mind-boggling total amount of $703m.
The Sahara group, one of the most visible names for cricket fans thanks to its perennial sponsorship of Team India, won the Pune francise for $370m, and Rendezvous Sports, a consortium of 5 companies, won the Kochi franchise for $333m.
Like
cricinfo put things in persective, the amount that the Sahara group bid for Pune is more than the entire amount netted by the BCCI in the auction of 8 teams before IPL1. This means that the returns for the existing IPL team owners, assuming each of the teams is worth at least $300m now, are in excess of at least 200% (Reliance bought Mumbai Indians for $100m).
The Sahara group bid for Ahmedabad and Nagpur, too, (and were highest there, too) but chose Pune finally. The Adani and Videocon groups, which were the only ones to bid at the
cancelled earlier scheduled auction on March 7, 2010, for the 2 new teams, failed to win this time.
The 2 new teams will make their debut in IPL 2011.