Indian Badminton League: Dabur purchases Pune; Sahara buys Lucknow; PVP bags Hyderabad franchises

India’s prestigious pharma giant Dabur India Limited has confirmed their plans to venture into Badminton. The company has recently purchased the Pune-based franchise, Pune Vijetas, which is one of six teams of the Indian Badminton League.

The tournament, which promises $1 million in prize money, will be held between August 14 and 31. It was reported in the media that Sahara and PVP Group have bought a team each and one popular cricketer (name withheld for privacy purpose) had shown interest in purchasing a team. The nominal price for a team stands at Rs 6 crore.

While Sahara has managed to buy the Lucknow Warriors team, the PVP group bagged the rights to Hyderabad Hotshots.

PVP Ventures, which is a Hyderabad-based multi business company that has interests spanning realty, media and entertainment pertaining to Bollywood, had previously made an unsuccessful bid to buy IPL team Deccan Chargers.

The organizers of IBL have revealed that the documents regarding one of the teams is yet be signed. “The owners of the six teams have been finalized but there is still a small glitch regarding one of the teams. We have received 29 bids and accepted six. While the documentation work for all the teams has been done we still have some last minute work with one of the franchises. That is the reason why we are not announcing the owners of the teams.”

It has also been confirmed that the players’ auction will be held at the end of this month and that the STAR Sports will have the broadcasting rights for the tournament that will last for nearly two weeks.

The IBL will draw inspiration from IPL, and organisers are hoping to make the event just as glamorous and celebrity-studded as the latter.

Source: The Times of India