Guwahati Makes It To One Of The Six Cities Put For Sale By BCCI For IPL

GUWAHATI: Guwahati has been listed as one of the six cities in India to be put up by the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) for sale in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

As per reports, the BCCI is mulling to exploit the flourishing Hindi market through the IPL expansion. The move is envisaged at improving the pan-India balance of the cash-rich cricket tournament.

Taking the zonal imbalance and business opportunities into consideration, the BCCI has put up six cities -- Guwahati, Ranchi, Cuttack (all East), Ahmedabad (West), Lucknow (Central Zone) and Dharamsala (North) -- for sale. The auction date is yet to be finalised, but it expected that it would at least one month for the same. It is also expected that the base price for the new teams will be Rs. 2000 crore.

According to data available with the BCCI, the consumption of sports in the Hindi-speaking regions is the largest in the country because of which the board is planning to exploit the Hindi market.

According to records, 65 per cent viewership of the four billion minutes of the IPL coverage of Star Sports in 2020 was from Hindi region. The popularity of Hindu can also be gauged from the fact that Sony Ten 3, the Hindi language channel of Sony Pictures Network, became the number one sports channel in the country recently.

Founded by the BCCI in the year 2007, IPL is considered as the most popular cricket league in the world. In 2010, the tournament became the first sporting event in the world to be broadcast live on YouTube.

Also Read: Two Brothers in Inebriated State Attack Man with Blade in Guwahati's Geetanagar