The Indian Premier League will have 10 teams from the upcoming season and utilising that factor, the Board of control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to host at least two home games of each team in neutral venues. The move is aimed towards supporting the state associations that do not have any IPL teams to boost up their revenue.
The idea came up in the board’s Annual General Meeting in Kolkata on Saturday, December 4. The decision will be made soon. The idea developed when BCCI asked all state associations involved in the meeting to build international quality stadiums.
“A small association hosts international games every three or sometimes four years. A few state associations argued that they have built stadiums and are not getting any competitive games,” a member of the state associations was quoted as saying by Indian Express.
It will be better if the BCCI decides to have IPL games in these smaller venues too so that they can get some revenue at the same time generate interest [among the locals],” he added further.
Reasoning as to how the IPL games would help, another member that attended the AGM said, “If these ten teams decide to play two games each then 20 matches can be played in a neutral venue. It will help states to generate revenue and at the same time, help state associations too. The Indian board has informed us that they will look into it and speak to the IPL franchise.”