BSS, Dhaka :
The Governing Council of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) announced on Sunday the name of the seven franchises for the country’s premier T20 tournament for the next three years.
There is only one new owner amongst the seven franchisees—a company named Future Sports Bangladesh Limited taking the ownership of Sylhet Division.
After a drama, the owners of Comilla Victorians finally came to defend the BPL title next year. There were reports that Comilla Legends Ltd had failed to submit Expression of Interest (EOI) papers, but the BCB on Sunday confirmed that the Victorians will remain part of the BPL until 2025.
Toggi Sports Limited (Bashundhara Group) is another high profile company who made a comeback to obtain the ownership of former champions Rangpur Division.
While Bashundhara made a comeback, neither Beximco Limited nor Gemcon Group, the two teams that featured regularly in the first cycle of the BPL, showed any interest to be part of the tournament.
A BCB statement stated that Fortune Barishal Sports Ltd kept hold of the Barishal team. Mindtree acquired Khulna Tigers. Progoti Green Auto Rice Mills Ltd, who owned Sylhet last season, grabbed the ownership of the Dhaka franchise this time. Delta Sports Ltd took control of the Chattogram franchise.
“After detailed evaluation and assessment of the EOI documents submitted by prospective owners, the BPL (Bangladesh Premier League) T20 Governing Council has invited the following parties to complete the process of securing Franchise Ownership Rights for the next three (9th, 10th & 11th) editions of the tournament,” BPL governing council said in a statement.
Monarch Holding, the much-talked business entity belonging to star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, also submitted the EOI but BPL governing council did not consider the firm.
The player draft is likely to be held on either October 7 or 8 while the selected business houses have been asked to deposit BDT 10 crore to get the franchise rights for the first year of the tournament. The ninth edition of the BPL is scheduled to be held on January 5, 2023.
The BCB will get BDT 1.5 crore as franchise fees while the rest of the amount will be kept for players payments, accommodation and other expenses for the franchises.
A meeting of the BPL Governing Council is likely to be held on September 26 to chalk out their next course of action.
BPL Franchises: Fortune Barishal Sports Ltd (Barishal), Mindtree Limited (Khulna), Progoti Green Auto Rice Mills Ltd (Dhaka), Future Sports Bangladesh Limited (Sylhet), Bashundhara Group’s Toggi Sports Limited (Rangpur), Delta Sports Ltd (Chattogram) Comilla Legends Limited (Comilla).
