The Glazer family that owns and runs Manchester United, has shown interest in the Indian Premier League. The US-based owners of the Red Devils have reportedly picked up the Invitation To Tender (ITT) which was floated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
The ITT floated by the BCCI, included some strict laws and restrictions in order to be eligible for submitting the bid. The potential bidder needed to have an average turnover of Rs 3,000 crore or a personal net worth of Rs 2,500 crore to be eligible for the bidding process.
However, due to the request of some of the potential bidders to reduce the average turnover criteria, the BCCI reworked the eligibility criteria which is set lower than the previous one of Rs 3,000 crore. The invitation does allow foregoing entities to buy the ITT as well as submit a bid provided all conditions mentioned by the BCCI are met.
This development has led Glazer to keep close tabs on the developments for the IPL franchise of two new teams for next season. This was confirmed by a source tracking the development said: “So, technically, overseas investors are eligible to submit a bid if they meet these conditions. We don’t really know whether Man U owners will come to the biding table. What we certainly know is that they’ve shown interest.”
As per the BCCI statement issued this month, the deadline to pick up the tender documents for the price of Rs 10 lac was October 20. Big names have shown interest in acquiring the right to own and operate an IPL team, which included Adani Group, Torrent Pharma, Aurobindo Pharma, RP-Sanjiv Goenka, Hindustan Times Media, Jindal Steel (Led by Naveen Jindal) and entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala and three private equity players.
Adding to the interest shown by the Glazer family to bid for the two new IPL franchises, the source added: “A lot of people usually pick these tender documents to study and gather the information that tends to be otherwise very useful from a larger industry perspective. For instance, buying a document will tell me more about what the BCCI is planning next, in terms of League expansion, etc.”
The Indian Premier League is set to be a 10-team affair from the 2022 season after two more franchises are approved by the Indian cricket board.