MUMBAI: Two done, four to confirmations go. Lancer Capital, the investment SPV of the Glazer family, who own English Premier League giants Manchester United, Wednesday confirmed its first ever historic foray into cricket by acquiring a franchise in the Emirates Cricket Board’s upcoming UAE T20 League.
Lancer Capital’s confirmation follows on from last week’s announcement that Reliance Industries Limited, through its subsidiary Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Ltd (RSBVL), will be acquiring the rights to own and operate a franchise in the six-team UAE T20 League.
Lancer Capital has investments in a variety of best-in-class assets. The chairman of Lancer Capital, Avram Glazer, is also the owner of Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Glazer has also been the co-chairman of Manchester United since 2005.
The calibrated announcements around the owners of the remaining four teams will roll out in due course under the watchfull eye of former Indian Premier League COO and Reliance Sports CEO Sundar Raman, “chief strategist” of the upcoming league.
The remaining four teams have the Knight Riders franchise, Delhi Capitals, jointly owned by the GMR Group and JSW Group, the Big bash League’s Sydney Sixers franchise and Ahmedabad-based micro finance company Capri Global as owners.
Zee wins 10-year broadcast rights
As already reported, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zee) will be the broadcast partner of the league, which will be fully approved by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
According to the information available with SportzPower, Zee has committed Rs 1,100 crore ($147 million at current exchange rates) for ten-year broadcast rights to the league.
Kick-off in Feb
The new six-team league, which will be 34-match event, is expected to kick off in the middle of February 2022 and finish before IPL 2022. As there will be no competing T20 league running during that period, the presence of International cricket’s usual “free floating” suspects – the likes of Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Rampaul, Rashid Khan and their ilk – can be guaranteed.
Khalid Al Zarooni, UAE T20 League chairman and vice chairman Emirates Cricket Board, said; “I am very excited to welcome Mr. Glazer to the UAE T20 Family! To have a partner who has invested into sports properties with a long term investment perspective is a testament to the strength of the UAE T20 League’s Business Model and its value proposition to its stakeholders and an ode to the UAE as the destination of choice for global sports events.”
Glazer said: “I am very excited to be a part of UAE T20 at its formation. UAE T20 promises to be a world class event that will be transformative to the growth of cricket in the Emirates.”
Mubashshir Usmani, general secretary ECB added: “We are extremely pleased that a legendary sports owner like Avie Glazer has chosen to partner with the UAE T20 League. This is a resounding thumbs up to the unique opportunity that the UAE T20 league offers to experienced and established sports business owners. Our partnership with Lancer Capital will enable us to combine fans of the two widely followed sports – football and cricket – in a never done before manner.”
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