IPL franchises concerned about incurring losses after coronavirus outbreak

The coronavirus outbreak has concerned the franchisees in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The cases regarding the virus has reached over a lakh with around 3,500 deaths. Earlier, Sourav Ganguly, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said that the season will go ahead despite the issue. The 13th edition of the IPL is set to get underway on March 29.

The Final will take place on May 24. But despite Ganguly’s words of assurance, the franchise owners are pretty tensed. Three weeks are left for the T20 league to kickstart and one senior franchise executive expressed concerns, keeping fingers crossed.

“Between now and March 29 (when IPL starts), there are about three weeks left. The answer to this question depends on how these three weeks pass. If a newspaper headline tells me in the morning that Coronavirus is spreading, then it’s going to play on my mind.

I will not want to see myself entering a cricket stadium with large crowds. So, yes, it’s a worry right now but, time will tell,” the executive was quoted as saying in The Times of India (TOI).

Franchises concerned over recovering IPL gate money

Going into the next season, it was announced that the IPL playoffs prize money would be halved. However, the hosting fee has been increased to 50 lakh per game. The gate money is an essential source of income and the owners are worried about recovering the amount should the coronavirus impact the season.

“…that’s Rs 3.5 cr for seven home games. Add that to the expenditure incurred in the setting up of a venue ahead of a season and ahead of every match. Then, there’s a separate fee that needs to be paid for security for every game. There are several miscellaneous expenses incurred,” another franchise owner said to the same media house.

But as per reports, the players and team owners are yet to raise a concern over the coronavirus issue. There have already been quite a few developments in the cricket field due to the virus. The England players have decided to not shake hands with the Sri Lanka cricketers for the upcoming Test series later this month.