'We are still unsure': Few franchises 'losing hope' of IPL 2020
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While international cricket has resumed with the three-match Test series between England and West Indies, there is still unclarity surrounding the much-talked-about Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. And that has made some of the IPL franchises and their sponsors a bit jittery.
While international cricket has resumed with the three-match Test series between England and West Indies, there is still unclarity surrounding the much-talked-about Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. While the Asia Cup 2020 has been officially postponed, the T20 World Cup is on the verge of postponement amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, the question remains what happens to the IPL.
As per a report, some of the franchises are growing frustrated due to lack of clarity while losing hope for a full-fledged season of IPL 2020. And many of them, as per the report, feels that IPL 2020 has now started to look impossible.
One of the IPL franchise CEO mulled over the lack of clarity as he said that it has started to hurt the interest of franchises, players and the sponsors.
We are still unsure about IPL season this year: CEO of one IPL franchise
“We are still unsure about IPL season this year. Our foreign players have been sending messages for clarity on the season but like everyone else, at this stage, we don’t have any answers. BCCI has been updating us, but with each passing day we are losing hope now on IPL 2020.”, said Chief Executive Officer of one of the IPL franchise to InsideSport.
Another major issue for the franchises are the reduction in commercial incomes and that has led to some of the sponsors becoming jittery. One of the officials from a Southern India-based franchise said that one of their jersey sponsors have moved out and due to the uncertainty, they can’t approach other sponsors.
“Sponsors are really jittery at this stage, they have now started losing patience. They also want to negotiate on the previous deals. One of our Jersey sponsors also has moved out. We cannot go to the market and speak to the new sponsor as the IPL window is yet to be finalized. We want IPL 2020 to happen but it’s not looking too good at this stage”, said one of the top official representing Southern India based IPL franchise.
While the speculation is rife that the BCCI is looking at the September-November window for the IPL, the venues and fixtures are officially yet to be decided.