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Our Bureau

Chennai, Dec. 31 The Indian Premier League’s (IPL) global tender process for official franchises in the eight-city league has met with an overwhelming response.

According to a press release from IPL, the invitation to bid for broadcast and other media rights for the T20 cricket tournament has been acquired by broadcasters including Sony Entertainment, Nimbus, the World Sports Group, ESPN Star Sports, Ten Sports and NDTV in partnership with a US-based $25-billion media equity fund named Providence.

In view of the ongoing holiday season and the fact that many global entities have evinced interest in IPL Franchise ownership, the BCCI and the Governing Council of the IPL have decided to extend the dates for submission and opening of bids. The date for opening of the media rights tenders now stands amended from January 8 to January 14. Similarly, the final date for submission of the franchise tenders has been extended from January 18 to January 24, when all the tenders for the eight franchises would be opened at 11 a.m., says the release.

The IPL expected to start on April 18, will feature eight franchises and will run for 44 days. Each franchise will play all others on a home and away basis with 7 matches at home. The top 4 franchises in the league will contest the semi-finals and the victorious semi-finalists will meet in the grand final all over one weekend.

The inaugural season of the IPL will showcase a grand total of 59 matches providing broadcasters and in-stadia spectators with 177 hours of live entertainment, which will also be viewed by a significant international audience. All matches will be during late afternoon and evening to coincide with ‘prime time’ for television and providing a convenient time for the stadium audience.

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