[Exclusive] We don't compete with IPL, we complement it: LLC CEO Raman Raheja

Ever since its inception in 2022, Legends League Cricket (LLC) has been growing in numbers. More foreign cricketers are now part of the tournament and most importantly, it is played in those areas of India, where cricket isn’t played very often. The ongoing edition of the tournament for example will see Jammu hosting professional cricket for the first time in history.

LLC CEO Raman Raheja in 2023 stated the tournament featuring some of the legends of the game is growing and that it saw a rise of 300% from season one to three but it isn’t profitable. He expected that the numbers would get better in 2024 and the recent trend shows the same. However, whether it was profitable or not remains to be understood after the tournament wraps up.

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Meanwhile, Raheja confirmed that he doesn’t want to compete with the Indian Premier League ever. He feels that the IPL is the parent body of all the other leagues in the world and LLC are just a small player of the same space.

“No comparison. No comparison. See we all follow IPL as the benchmark. Yeah. We all learn from it.  IPL has set the standards so high and it is only it's the parent of all of the leagues that have originated after IPL. We are just a small player within that whole ecosystem but I can proudly say I am virtually the IPL of legend space,” Raheja exclusively told CricTracker.

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He added that the concept was not his brainchild but he took inspiration and created a whole space where cricketers can still entertain fans even after their retirement. He cited the examples of Dinesh Karthik, Virender Sehwag, Shikhar Dhawan, and Mohammad Kaif for wanting to play even after retirement and once again assured that he doesn’t want to compete against IPL ever.

“We have created this whole space which was non-existent prior to us. It is not my brainchild to have created this but we have created and built the space so we take inspiration from IPL instead of competing with it. We take inspiration and I would want to complement it. So wherever IPL stops we begin that's the story of D.K. that's the story of  Dhawan, Virender Sehwag, and Mohammad Kaif. A lot of these cricketers so they finish and we start. So I will never compete. I don't even want to challenge IPL I want to complement it. And create this as a space outside of IPL. Okay. So I will never compete. I don't want to challenge IPL," Raheja said.