Franchises await BCCI’s clarifications on operational aspects of IPL 2020

The thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League is scheduled to take place in the UAE and we are just a month and a half away from the tournament to kick-off. The Board of Control for Cricket in India is yet to give all the eight franchises SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for the forthcoming edition of the IPL in UAE.

Times of India reportedly had conversations with the owners of the franchises to understand their concerns. With everything in progress, the franchises have a fair bit of questions about the situation that needs to be addressed at the earliest.

IPL GC & franchises meeting: 

The first thing that all the Franchises want is to have a meeting with the IPL Governing Council and they perhaps think it's already too late. Nothing can move forward if everybody isn't on the same page. 

Official confirmation of dates, venue and match-schedule: 

Over the past few weeks, we have heard from the chairman of the IPL Governing Council that the tournament will take place between 19 September and 8 November, the problem here is that it is all but 'officially' confirmed. The franchises had brought sponsors on board for February-May season but now franchises need a better understanding of the scenario, as all of them are re-negotiating their previously signed lucrative deals.

Revenue-sharing, ticket compensation & accommodation: 

This forthcoming IPL season will be one of the biggest in terms of duration of the tournament (51 days). It is understood that each franchise can lose between INR 2.5-3.5 crores per IPL fixture from ticket sales, which constitutes a huge amount of INR 20-25 crores for the season. Accommodation can be costlier in the UAE than in India. IPL will book approximately 60,000 room nights in the UAE. Which brings us further to the revenue sharing perspective, the owners expect revenue distribution from the central pool, including revenue from broadcast rights, to remain the same and not change.

Player-related details:

When it comes to player-related queries, it is all about flying them to the UAE & back which will be the responsibility of the teams. The BCCI needs to take an effective approach to travel guidelines, as it is important for the teams to arrange travel and return not only for the players but also for their families. Also, contingencies such as player replacements due to medical reasons, mid-season player transfer during the tournament, general policy terms related to isolation after reaching the UAE, day-to-day procedures to be followed are some of the issues that need to be addressed.

Bio-secure bubble: 

A bio-bubble environment is one of the primary necessities because the health and safety of all those involved is of top priority. Franchises are considering quarantine options and are tagging with the medical staff on board so that they can keep track of their players' developments on any symptoms and also help them in processes such as sanitization, understanding, what to do and not do.

[With TOI inputs]