“I am pleased to be able to announce that bids were received in respect of all seven teams, at an average price of 4.3 million dollars per bid,” Vajira Dassanayake, head of marketing and communications Sri Lanka Cricket said.
The inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) will run from August 10-31, featuring seven provincial teams, each having six foreign players in their squad but with a provision that only four can be fielded in a playing XI.
Dassanayake said the names would be announced shortly, after top board officials go through the details in the bids.
The tournament, which is estimated to cost around 1.7 million dollars, will be played at the R. Premadasa in Colombo and Pallekele in Kandy.
Singapore-based Somerset Entertainment Ventures, which owns the commercial rights for the tournament for 15-years, will pay for the foreign players and pick-up cash from selling broadcasting rights.The bidding announcement came hours after the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday has asked Sri Lanka to have an anti-graft code in place before the SLPL starts in August.
During its two-day meeting in Kuala Lumpur that ended Monday, the ICC’s chief executives’ committee, also asked Bangladesh to incorporate a domestic anti-corruption code at its earliest.
