NEW DELHI: Badminton Association of India (BAI) president Himanta Biswa Sarma expects the Premier Badminton League (PBL) to start making profits only after the fifth year.
The third edition of the league kicks off on 23 December. “The agreement between the Licensee and BAI is for 10 years and we had initially calculated that the league wouldn’t be profitable till fifth year,” Sarma told PTI. “So now our agreement with Star TV will come for renewal on the fifth year and only there after the league will be profitable. This is the third edition and so another two years there will be a bit of challenge. So for next two years probably we will have to be a bit defensive.”
Sarma, appointed interim head of the BAI following the sudden demise of former president Akhilesh Das Gupta in April, said the pending court cases with Sporty Solutionz will have no bearing on the PBL 3, starting on 23 December. “BAI’s dispute with Sporty Solutionz is strictly limited to claims and counter claims. I think franchises shouldn’t feel anyway disturbed or demotivated that some litigation is going on. It is an old litigation,” he said.
The eight-team league currently has only six franchise owners, with the Delhi and Mumbai teams being governed by the BAI’s governing council for now. Sarma told PTI, “This time we have increased the number of teams to eight and out of them, franchises have acquired six teams. Delhi and Mumbai are with SportzLive, but I think these two also will be sold, it is in the process of selling. Teams of Delhi and Mumbai will play in the league but when they will have a franchise, that is a decision to be taken by Sporty Solutionz. We have given that mandate to them. Whether these teams will be sold or not sold, we will not come into that picture.”
