IPL is back in the news and sadly for non-cricketing reasons. The Indian cricket board will no longer use the services of IMG, the global Sports Event Management firm, for conducting the IPL, following a disagreement over payments for the league’s second season in South Africa.
Reportedly N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary [also read Chennai franchise owner], conveyed the decision to Andrew Wildblood, the IMG vice-president, on August 28, saying the board’s working committee felt that IMG’s fee was “disproportionate to the services rendered”. Srinivasan while not disclosing the IMG’s fee for the second edition,said the BCCI has paid Rs. 42.92 crore to the firm for the first edition in 2008. IMG worked for the IPL II this year on an annual fee of around Rs. 33 crore (around US $6.7 m). “Ideally, the board is hoping that they can renegotiate this down to around Rs. 25-27 crore (around US $5.5 m),” the official said.
IMG’s initial contract with the BCCI, which was signed in September 2007, stipulated a commission-based payment of 10% of the board’s revenue. The contract was subsequently negotiated to a fixed retainer payment of roughly Rs 33 crore but this was objected to by some members of the BCCI’s working committee, who are keen that the Indian board take over the running of the IPL entirely.
So seemingly it boils down to the conflict of financial interests between the cash rich board and the big sports event management firm.
Really? There’s more to this furore than meets the eye. Infact there are quite a few facets to this whole tangle.
BCCI -vs- IMG
There’s a section in the BCCI that wants the Board to take complete control of the affairs of the IPL. And when BCCI let IMG know of their decision to do away with them, Andrew Wildblood, a senior vice-president at the firm, has said that there were no grounds for termination and that IMG had a legally binding 10-year agreement with the BCCI and that it would “reserve all of our rights and remedies at law under and in respect of the contract”. So the matter looks all financial…or does it?
Why share a substantial portion of the revenue with IMG when BCCI alone can have it? But the concerns are more political than financial.
BCCI -vs- Franchisees
7 of the 8 franchise owners have expressed resentment over this ousting of IMG in general and the unilateral decision of the Board in this whole matter in particular (the 8th being Chennai, owned by Srinivasan, the man behind this decision). Some of them have, in strongly written terms, let the BCCI know of their concerns. Notable names being Shahrukh Khan – Kolkata Knight Riders and Mukesh Ambani - Mumbai Indians. Also, Delhi and others have expressed similar sentiments. The franchise owners feel services of IMG have been integral to the HIGH standards of success, that IPL 1 and IPL 2 has seen. Case in comparison would be the T20 WC in England which came nowhere close to the IPL success story. Broadcasting partner Sony has signed a TV rights deal reported to be worth US $1.6 billion with IPL for the telecast rights over the next nine years. So it was but natural when Man Jit Singh, the chief executive of Multi Screen Media Private Ltd (MSM), which broadcasts IPL under the Sony umbrella, conveyed his concerns in a letter – dated August 31 – addressed to Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman.
Modi -vs- Srinivasan
This is where we enter the climax. This whole issue of termination of contract (of IMG) by BCCI over the supposedly overcharging issue has largely been billed as a war between Lalit Modi, the man behind the formation of the League in 2007, and Srinivasan who heads the India Cements group that owns the Chennai Super Kings franchise outfit. The root cause of these cold vibes are little known. Perhaps its the power mania that’s seen two stalwarts of the Cricketing Administration fall apart. While the franchisees and Pawar, according to reports, have put their weight behind Modi, the rest of the BCCI makes up the other bloc behind secretary Srinivasan.
So, is it just another case of BCCI letting greed run wild? Or is it an attempt to wrest back control of the League from Modi?
Well the ball is in BCCI President Shashank Manohar’s court now, who has been entrusted with the task of finding a solution and has been asked to report back to the board during its AGM meeting later this month.
But the real loss amidst all this is for IPL (and in effect to the game), which sadly has run into individual egos.
Finally to echo the words of the noted commentator/columnist Harsha Bhogle himself – “Lalit Modi has done a brilliant job so far and so has Srinivasan by putting together a really strong franchise. The IPL owes them both a great deal but their eventual success will lie in making the IPL bigger than either of them.”
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