BCB demands greater commitment from BPL teams

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) officials had meetings with five sports management companies today for the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and even though the board is undecided on which company to appoint, the meetings have reinforced its belief that the franchises going forward have to take more responsibility.

As per sources, all the sports management companies came up with presentations on how they would rebrand and revamp the BPL, proposed a structure with six to seven teams as with five teams the tournament will lose its excitement, and also delivered financial guidelines which included a revenue sharing model with the franchises.

In the next board meeting on August 9, the BCB officials will discuss which company to appoint after deciding which model would be followed for the agreement.

One of BCB's models suggests that company's performance will be assessed and fees will be paid for both consultation and operational cost. The other model suggests that sports management firms will take the risk of all expenses and execution of tournament while also providing a bank guarantee.

Once the sports management firm is appointed, the board will reach out to companies and seek out interested parties for franchise ownership in BPL.

For franchises, ability to take responsibility and sustainability is of major concern given that the previous edition of the BPL was muddled by controversies surrounding players' payments and fixing allegations.

BCB previously told the media that franchises who had financial disputes with the board previously will not be considered.

According to sources, the BCB wants to assess the vision and target of interested parties, and will award franchise ownership based on whether they can ensure round the year activities both in promotion and cricketing development.

The board wants to assess whether the franchises have a vision towards enriching cricket development in their own regions by means of developing facilities and programmes.

Sources have informed that growing an international fan base and activating supporters will not only be sports management companies' responsibility but also be shared by franchises.

In the past, such commitments were not prioritised and the lack of accountability in picking franchises severely dented BPL's brand. Given that sports management companies have all talked about revenue sharing for franchises, BCB wants to raise the stakes in terms of franchise responsibility.

The implementation of these plans would dictate whether the BCB's dialogue with the sports management companies and the ones it held before with cricketers and journalists would have any merit.