The Indian Premier League is getting bigger. The just recently finished 2021 IPL season counted eight teams, but will now balloon to ten as two more franchises are in the works to be added for the 2024 season.
The IPL maintained an eight-team format during its past eight seasons. But officials feel that this was the best time for the league to expand and add more teams into the mix. Given the popularity that the Indian Premier League has been getting not just within its own territories but further, this step is quite an acceptable one.
The BCCI has just announced the names of the two successful bidders that will be taking over the two newly added franchises in RPSG Ventures Ltd. (Lucknow) and Irelia Company Pte Ltd. (Ahmedabad).
New IPL Franchise Owners Announced
The governing IPL body recently announced that they will be issuing an invitation to all interested parties that want to acquire the rights to own and operate two newly joining IPL franchises. There were a number of bids. Some of them quite interesting. All of them were submitted in a timely manner in Dubai.
After careful consideration, BCCI announced the results. With a bid for INR 7090 crores, RPSG Ventures Ltd. was able to acquire the franchise based in Lucknow. While Irelia Company Pte Ltd.’s bid for INR 5625 crores was enough to secure them the Ahmedabad-based franchise.
Upon completion of the post-bid formalities specified in the ITT documentation, the two franchises will start competing as part of the 2024 IPL season and onwards. This means that the forthcoming Indian Premier League season will count ten teams. A total of 74 matches will be played within the season. Each team individually will play 14 matches, seven at home and seven away, which is a lot of games for bettors that sign up with a Betway bonus code India to wager on the latest T20 IPL games.
BCCI President Voices His Content
After concluding the bidding, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly explained how happy he was that the two newly added IPL teams will come in with foreign owners.
Firstly, Mr Ganguly explained that the expansion of the league helps it to evolve even further. Adding new teams also means venturing into new territories. At the same time, this also means promoting new players from various regions of India and getting them in the limelight of cricket’s biggest stage.
Sourav Ganguly also emphasized the importance of getting the first outside-India-based owners. He exclaims that foreign investors coming into the IPL means that the league has started to garner worldwide attention. Bringing in outsiders also means bringing in more revenue for the league by allowing it to gain more outside interest.
The IPL is already one of the most-watched leagues in all of the sports. People from India are its main viewers. This will surely bring added attention as more teams will mean more exciting moments and games. More games also mean more IPL betting opportunities which can be paired with the latest ComeOn bonus code India for registration.
Not the First Attempt of Expansion
This is not the first attempt at expanding the IPL. The 2011 season, fourth overall, also counted ten teams with the inclusion of Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Pune Warriors India. However, the expansion failed. The Kochi Tuskers Kerala was terminated from the league due to them breaking the IPL terms and conditions and were forced to exit. The very next 2012 season counted nine teams.
We are hopeful for the league to stay with the 10-team format for a longer period. Wagering opportunities will grow at the same time and players will be able to make use of a 1xBet promo code India when signing up and looking for T20 cricket games to bet on.
