IPL chairman Brijesh Patel yesterday announced that there would not be any spectators for the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). After the announcement, the franchisees fear losing Rs 25 to 35 crore each.
The teams were forced to play without fans last year also. This year, ticket sales as a revenue source for each franchise are all set to be completely wiped out of their PNL.
IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel announced, “Yes, I can confirm that there will be no spectators allowed for this season. Not for a single match. We will have a Governing Council meeting in the next two days to ratify these decisions. The decision to take Mumbai as a venue was difficult. But we believe things will improve. But we are keeping our options open (to opt for a replacement venue in case the situation goes out of hand.”
After this announcement, CSK CEO Kashi Viswanathan told Inside Sports, “Yes, after last year’s loss, we are a bit worried about this year’s revenue loss as well. I would say the loss could be around Rs 25 crore. But more than that, we are going to lose our fans. That’s our biggest concern.”
However, there is one more matter which can impact franchises. As the fans are not allowed, it will impact the sponsorship tie-ups franchises weaving for IPL 2021.
Punjab Kings CEO Satish Menon said, “We are still discussing IPL and BCCI to find a solution. We hope and pray things to get normal, and some spectators are allowed in the later stage. We had spectators in the Test matches as well. So let’s see, things might change. So putting a figure at this stage will be premature.”
However, teams will play all the matches in a neutral venue. BCCI released a statement regarding this and said, “One of the major changes of this edition of the VIVO IPL will be the fact that all matches will be played at neutral venues, no team will play at their home venue. All teams will play at 4 out of 6 venues during the league stage.”
