Franchisee to make top bid opts out of T20 Mumbai League: Report

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A day before the player acquisition auction for the inaugural T20 Mumbai League, the Mumbai Cricket Association is left with one franchisee short for the six-team league.

Naman Developers, the building and construction company to make the highest ₹6.5 crore to acquire a TML franchisee, has opted out of the league less than a week after acquiring the team ownership rights. The decision has left TML organisers in deep trouble.

The Mumbai-based leading real-estate brand has decided to forfeit their contract and surrender their initial payment of ₹1 crore, national daily Indian Express has reported.

The player acquisition auction is scheduled for Wednesday. Meanwhile, the MCA has also not received the mandatory bank guarantee from another franchisee owner, who is reported to have assured the MCA of the payment on Tuesday.

Naman Developers have opted out as they felt expected deficit for owning the franchisee will eventually be much higher than the projections.

“They felt it was not a profitable venture for the first two years. During the pre-bidding meeting, the interested teams were told that the loss of share will be 34% but later after the bidding got over, they were told it could go up to 85%. There is no central pool revenue at the moment, neither is there any clarity over media rights. Teams were bought for six crores and an additional two crore would have gone in buying players and branding. Naman Developers felt it was not worth investing,” The Indian Express has quoted an MCA official as saying.

With players acquisition scheduled for Wednesday, the MCA is finding it hard to get all the required six franchisees on board. However, a total of nine bids were received for the six TML franchisees.

MCA meanwhile might not look for a franchisee owner to replace Naman Developers. “There are still many interested parties but there could be a possibility of the MCA having its own team in the inaugural season,” another MCA official is reported to have told Indian Express.

MCA will retain the ₹1 crore furnished by Naman Developers as their first payment.

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