ESPNCricinfo
It's now official. The IPL will be a 10-team tournament from the 2022 season, with the BCCI inviting bids for the two new franchises on Tuesday. Interested bidders will need to buy the tender document by October 5, after which the IPL will carry out a technical evaluation before selling the two franchises.
ESPNcricinfo understands that the minimum bid price for each of the new franchises will be INR 2000 crore (USD 270 million approx) and that there are six cities in the fray including Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Guwahati and Cuttack. It is learned that successful bidders will own the new franchises for perpetuity.
While it announced the launch of the bidding process on Tuesday, the BCCI did not reveal details such as whether bids would be made via sealed envelope or an e-auction, and by when it would unveil the two new franchises. The BCCI pointed out that any interested bidder is allowed to pick more than one bid document, which costs INR 10 lakhs, but would be allowed to own only one franchise.
While the decision to add two new franchises was finalised by the IPL Governing Council on Monday, the BCCI has been contemplating the move for the last two years. At its annual general meeting in December 2020, the BCCI got the approval to do so from its members - the state associations.
