Fantasy cricket becomes a reality Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Indian is the commercial powerhouse of modern day cricket accounting for 70% of global revenues.
The country is fanatical about the game and is set to vent its passion on a new "domestic" twenty 20 tournament format featuring many of the World's greatest current players, lasting 44 days.
Eight teams each have budget range of $3.3m-$5m to spend on a 16 man squad, featuring a max of 8 foreigners of which a max of 4 may be on the field together. To encourage youth development, four of the squad must be under 21 and all players have to be signed for 3 years.
Indian broadcast rights we're sold for $500m and overseas right are anticipated to fetch $250m. With an average fee per player of $250k for 6 weeks work, it has enticed many of the elite players.
The format is already an entertainment spectacle. Now teams construction will be too with some sensible constraints to level the playing field.
Many sports employ similar constraints (american football, speedway) to attempt to equalise teams. It's a shame football doesn't but then top clubs are focussed on the international rather than domestic competition.
Kicking off in April, it will be a fascinating tournament and another welcome boost to cricket's popularity amongst all ages.
posted by John Wilson @ 11:48 AM Permanent Link
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