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With tainted franchises Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals facing a possible ouster from the Indian Premier League this season, it's not completely impossible to think that the tournament, if it happens, will have to go ahead with only 6 teams out of 8.Supreme Court has handled the IPL spot-fixing case with such ruthlessness which was seen missing in the top brass of BCCI in the past year. Hence, it's not really going overboard to think that CSK and RR may be stopped from participating in IPL 2014.How can such a move affect the tournament? What would be its fallout on the revenue generated and the players? Here are some possibilities:
#1 Shortened tournament
If the teams are reduced to 6, the number of matches would see a steep fall. From the earlier number of 60, only 34 matches would then be played between 6 remaining teams. IPL 7 is scheduled to be held in possibly 3 phases and with the reduction of matches, the tournament may be shortened and held only in India, scrapping the plans to host it in UAE.
#2 Loss in IPL revenue
According to estimates by NDTV, the IPL would suffer a revenue loss of around Rs. 9000 crore due to the ouster of CSK and RR. The current estimates put IPL's revenue to be around US $3.2 billion.
#3 Losses for broadcasters
Another major hit would be taken by the official broadcasters who charge a sum of around Rs. 4.5-5 lakh for a 10-second spot from advertisers. The ban on two of the biggest teams in IPL, CSK and RR, would mean these rates would take a deep plunge.
#4 Loss of fans
With the fans' faith in IPL already shaky, a Supreme Court verdict against Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, who combined have won the tournament 3 times in the past will lead to a further alienation of the IPL watching crowd and may sound death knell for the biggest T20 league in the world.
#5 Future uncertain for players
With big name players like MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson and others part of the two teams, the quality of play is set to come down in the matches. According to the rules, the two teams will also have to dish out 10% of the bid amount to its players whose future would then remain uncertain in the league.
