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New Delhi, Feb 19: In the run-up to the Wednesday auction of Indian Premier League (IPL) players in Mumbai, activities surrounding the most lucrative sporting event have heated up. The GMR Group, better known for its infrastructure interests, has set up the GMR Sports Private Ltd to manage its IPL-related activities. "Yogesh Shetty will take care of GMR sports" said B Vanchi, senior director, GMR group, on the sidelines of the conference, in which they launched the name and logo of the Delhi team. The Delhi team will be named Delhi Daredevils. On being asked about the sponsors and partnerships in ventures related to IPL, Vanchi said, "There are huge opportunities for sponsorship and we will tie up with brands which capture the spirit of Delhi best and connect with Delhiites".
With an estimated $1.7 billion being spent on franchise sales, television and promotion rights, Arun Jaitley, executive committee president, Delhi and District Cricket Association, considers it an immensely profitable venture for BCCI, franchise owners, state associations and sponsors involved "The match slated to start in April will encash on the lean season of cricket."
The much-awaited auction in Mumbai has already generated excitement which is likely to dole out pay cheques starting at six figures for the services of leading players for the 44 days of action with 59 matches aimed at prime-time.
The buzz is that M S Dhoni's bidding will begin at $400,000 per season. The auction of Australian captain Ricky Ponting is expected to start at $350,000 at Mumbai auction which will feature around 89 players. Each franchise can spend a maximum of $5 million and a minimum of $3.3 million on eight contracted players with the 'open' auction aimed at giving an equal opportunity for every team to procure at least one leading performer.
Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly Yuvraj Singh, who had already been designated to their city-based franchises, will earn 15% more than the next-highest paid player in their side. IPL has granted icon status to Virendra Sehwag and V V S Laxman on the eve of the auction pushing them to the same bracket. Earlier in the day, Yogesh Shetty, CEO GMR IPL, said "If BCCI decides on iconic player status to Sehwag, it is most likely that we will consider him for captaincy for Delhi Daredevils."
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