The inaugural edition of the Betway SA20 – has announced total prize money of R70 million (Rs33.5 crore approx) for South Africa’s upcoming franchise based T20 tournament.
Betway SA20 League Commissioner, Graeme Smith said: “We have worked hard to offer a rewarding and unprecedented incentive in the first season of Betway SA20. This is a first for South African cricket, we have never had this type of competitive incentive in our domestic cricket and it is a further indication of SA20’s ambitions to positively impact South African cricket.”
Six teams, all owned by Indian Premier League franchises, are set to go head-to-head from 10 January at Newlands in Cape Town until the inaugural final on 11 February at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
MI Cape Town and Paarl Royals are headlined to play the tournament’s opening match, which will feature Afghanistan superstar Rashid Khan, England’s T20 World Cup-winning captain Jos Buttler, Proteas fast bowling spearhead Kagiso Rabada and David Miller who lit up the stadiums in the 2022 IPL.
Tickets for all 33 matches are available at the six stadiums and online through the Ticketpros website.
A team’s expenses can be between $5.1m (the bid price per year plus the $4m operating costs) and $6.4m per franchise per season.
The six teams in SA20, Durban’s Super Giants, Jo’burg Super Kings, MI Cape Town, Paarl Royals, Pretoria Capitals, and Sunrisers Eastern Cape, are owned by Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise owners.
As per South African media reports, the Johannesburg and Cape Town franchises were the most expensive, at nearly $28 million each, while the Pretoria franchise cost around $25m and the Durban franchise $11m.
These amounts are payable over 10 years to the new company that was established between Cricket South Africa, SuperSport and Indian sports business professional Sundar Raman to manage the tournament.
The popularity of South African players with Indian fans coupled with the pedigree of the team owners gives SA20 a robust platform to build one of top international T20 leagues globally.
“SA20 is primed to become one of the most popular T20 leagues in the world,” said Viacom18 Sports CEO Anil Jayaraj at an event celebrating the partnership. “At prime time in India, the cricket loving audience will watch South Africa’s most revered players along with global superstars and our presentation will match the energy and excitement that will come with it.”
The league features teams playing each other twice in a round-robin stage before the semis and final played over four weeks. MI Cape Town and neighbours Paarl Royals kickstart the tournament at Newlands on Tuesday, January 10. The opening game will be followed by Durban’s Super Giants hosting the Joburg Super Kings at Kingsmead on Wednesday, January 11.
The SA20 will see international superstars like Quinton de Kock, Faf Du Plessis, Kagiso Rabada, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Rashid Khan, Jos Buttler, Eoin Morgan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone, Maheesh Theekshana, Jason Holder in action.
The addition of the SA20 strengthens Viacom18’s portfolio of world-class sporting events, including the Indian Premier League (digital rights), the just-concluded FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, NBA, Diamond League, LaLiga, Serie A, Ligue 1, and top ATP and BWF events.
