The governing council of the Bangladesh Premier League stated on Thursday that they are afraid of losing their privileges and are not prepared to accept IPL franchises despite numerous obstacles.
IPL teams are making significant investments in various franchise leagues across the globe, despite the BPL as a competition struggling to establish a niche. “Maybe there is no good reason to attend, or they (the IPL franchises) don’t want to come. The IPL franchises repeatedly reached out to us. At the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Ismail Haider Mallick, secretary of the BPL governing council, informed reporters that the board has decided to conduct the competition in line with national traditions.
“We don’t want to do something where the tournament’s rights will not be in our hands and will go to someone else.”
Mallick said that they are losing money because they are not yet prepared to allow surrogate betting organizations to participate in the BPL, but they may eventually have to adjust their stance because of budgetary limitations.
Establishments that facilitate gambling are strictly prohibited by the country’s current legislation. Enabling gambling establishments to operate is against both the law and the constitution.
Following BCB’s ultimatum, Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib al Hasan was forced to back out of the Betwinner arrangement.
“We don’t take the risk because of the question with surrogate betting organizations. Going to an agency is not a positive experience if the outside sponsor is not a business company. We could have made 10 crores more in media rights last year, but we didn’t because we closed down betting sites,” Mallick said.
“There is an economic slowdown affecting the entire globe. I also used Big Bash as an example, in addition to the Indian cricket board and the IPL. Shujon bhai visits ICC and speaks with the CEO of each board. Everyone’s income is known to us, as is the information provided to the media. Holding a T20 event is challenging [in this environment]. Surrogates are permitted for most national teams, not just in T20 tournaments. With the exception of one or two, the majority—including India—accept it,” he stated, adding that they might eventually welcome substitute betting sites for cricket.
Nafisa Kamal, the owner of Comilla Victorians, recently threatened to leave BPL if the earnings were not split. According to Mallick, revenue sharing is an option if franchisee fees increase tenfold over their current level, or BDT 1.5 crores, to be exact.
“The BCB decides whether to pursue revenue sharing, and we administer the tournament in accordance with the guidelines the board sets forth. We tried a revenue-sharing model in the first year, but it wasn’t working for us since there were a lot of anomalies and players weren’t getting compensated, according to Mallick.
“There were numerous problems with player compensation even in the second BPL, so we had to go to arbitration and work with the players and teams to find solutions. So, the first two years were not good for us. The board wouldn’t have an issue with income sharing if the franchise price was fifteen crores, he claimed.
“To run the tournament sustainably we have to keep in mind the financial and economic condition we are in,” he said.