RP Sanjiv Goenka Group (RPSG) and CVC Capital Partners have won the ownership rights of the two new franchises in the IPL. RPSG have chosen Lucknow as their home base with a winning bid of INR 7,000 crores, while CVC Capital have picked Ahmedabad with a second-highest bid of INR 5,200 crores. With their additions, the IPL will be a ten-team affair from next season.
Goenka, who previously also owned the Rising Pune Supergiant(s) in IPL, told Cricbuzz, ‘A lot of planning and calculation has gone into our bidding. I give credit to the personal staff for winning the bid.’ The RPSG’s bid was 250 percent more than BCCI's base price of INR 2,000 crore.
Both teams can pay the entire amount over a 10-year period.
Overall, 10 parties entered the auction room with bids to own the two franchises on Monday, 25 October at the Taj Dubai. Manchester United owners Glazers and the Adani Group were among others to have placed bids to purchase a team.
Apart from Lucknow and Ahmedabad, the other available centres were Cuttack, Dharamsala, Guwahati and Indore.