THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL NO LESS! The BCCI has reportedly referred the CVC Capital Partners “matter” to SGI Tushar Mehta, who represents the board in matters not involving the government of India.
Seriously? This whole rigmarole is frankly getting tiresome. IF the BCCI is genuinely “worried” about the optics of allowing a “betting company” (UK-exiled former IPL supremo Lalit Modi’s coinage, not ours) like CVC to own an Indian Premier League franchise then there are only two options available to it.
What are those two options? First is to accept the fact that the US private equity giant, which has 107 portfolio companies under its umbrella and approximately $111 billion in secured commitments is NOT a betting company and issue the Letter of Intent sooner rather than later. The fact of the matter is that the Indian cricket board’s dilly-dallying is compromising not just the the retention deadline for the existing eight IPL teams, which the BCCI itself had set as November 30, but also the Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the new media rights cycle, which (again) the board itself had announced would be issued immediately after the owners of the two new IPL teams were confirmed.
The second option is to declare that CVC’s stakeholding in Tipico, Germany’s leading sports betting provider that has built up more than 50% market share in the German market, is problematic and so declare its bid as void.
HOWEVER, if the BCCI chooses to go down this road, which is riddled with concerns of propriety and due respect for systems and processes (the Indian cricket board is not the “gold standard” in this area in any case), then SportzPower has an unsolicited (hat tip to the SGI) suggestion. Since the confirmation of the Ahmedabad franchise seems to be causing so much “turmoil”, the only FAIR option that offers a LEVEL PLAYING FIELD for all stakeholders is to call for fresh bids. There is the the practical problem of time constraints in opting for such a recourse so then the ONLY option really is to go with a nine-team IPL for the 2022 season and have a ten-team one from the 2023 season on. In any case, the new IPL media rights cycle kicks in from the 2023 season on so a nine-team IPL in 2022 and a ten-team one from 2023 would work for all stakeholders.
Why does SportzPower believe these are the only two options available to the BCCI if it wants to take forward the argument that it is a responsible governing body with any real conviction? Well, the bald truth is that CVC is not some fly by night operator. As a global private equity company, it follows the law of the land. It therefore stands to reason that it should not be penalised for betting investments in a third country where it is also following the law of THAT land (Germany in this specific case).
It bears noting that a total of nine parties entered the fray with bids to own the two franchises on October 25. So if CVC is ultimately disqualified, then at the very least, ALL the other seven who had put in bids should get a second shot at owning an IPL team (and whoever else may be interested ipso facto). And who were the “losing seven”? The Adani Group (third highest bid after RPSG Ventures Group and CVC), Manchester United’s Glazers family under the Championship Cricket LLC umbrella, Capri Global, Al Cargo Logistics, HT Media, Kotak Limited and Torrent Sports Ventures.
If the BCCI chooses this route, all stakeholders would be hoping that it sets out its terms and conditions clearly and there will be no “shifting of the goal posts” after the fact.
POSTSCRIPT: Speaking of terms and conditions, SportzPower has been provided access to a clause in the Invitation To Tender document, which clearly states that in the event the winning bidder’s claims are voided (for whatever reason), then the next highest bidder will “take home the bacon”. As already mentioned, that would be Adani Group, the pre-bidding “overwhelming favourite” whose Rs 51 billion (Rs 5100 crore) had been bested by CVC, which had bid Rs 56.25 bn (Rs 5625 cr). So does the fresh update alter the posits put forward as the basis for this Viewpoint? Not a jot. Everything remains as is, SportzPower would argue.
Related Report
CVC yet to get LoI from BCCI for Ahmedabad franchise bid: report
This “Viewpoint” has been updated with the additional information gleaned by SportzPower about a crucial clause in the ITT, which if ultimately applied after voiding CVC’s claim, would benefit the Adani Group.
