The six franchises in Emirates’ ILT20 League have collectively written to the organisers asking for changes to be brought to the current revenue model.
Gulf Giants, Desert Vipers, MI Emirates, Dubai Capitals, Sharjah Warriors and Abu Dhabi Knight Riders want the ongoing set-up altered.
The existing model stipulates that central revenue pool will begin getting allocated to the franchises after the first 10 years of the league. The franchises, however, are demanding a change in that model and allocation of revenues from 2024 onwards.
The decision has been collectively taken by all six franchises, three of which also own teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
News18 CricketNext reached out to Mubashir Usmani, the secretary general of the Emirates Cricket Board, for a comment and the story will be updated the moment he responds.
‘Zee may want to renegotiate broadcast deal’
Apart from the franchises writing to the league organisers on the revenue model, it is learnt that Zee, which bagged the media rights for ten years, wants to renegotiate the existing arrangement. Owing to the costs involved and the returns from thefirst season, Zee, which reportedly paid over Rs 800 crore for the global media rights – both TV and digital – have possibly asked to redo the math.
“After evaluating the first season, Zee too may want to renegotiate terms. It initially got into a ten-year arrangement which was believed to be over Rs 800 crore. The first season has given the media house a better sense of the numbers game,” says an industry source.
Next couple of weeks are going to be crucial for the league as the pressure from both the franchises and broadcasters is going to push the organisers in a huddle.
The league, sanctioned by the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) in 2022, saw participation from top cricketers in the inaugural edition. Gulf Giants, owned by the Adani Group, won the first season after defeating Desert Vipers, owned by Lancer Capital LLC, in the title clash.
Since it is not run by a Full Member (FM) of the International Cricket Council (ICC), the matches don’t have a formal List A T20 status and the statistics aren’t recorded.
On July 10, all six teams submitted their list of players released and retained for the second edition and some squads will see lot of activity for the vacant slots. Giants, Vipers and Emirates retained most of the players but the other three have plenty of spots up for grabs.
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