LPL logo launched, all set for player draft
With the players draft set to take place tomorrow, the Lanka Premier League (LPL) unveiled its official logo yesterday, as official rights holder IPG (Innovative Production Group) is confident of creating a global platform through television and social media viewership.Anil Mohan, the CEO of IPG, confirmed to the Sunday Times that all five franchises have been already sold and unlike the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL), which failed to sustain after a season in 2012, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) can look forward for a long running competition with many followers.
“We will make a formal announcement in the coming days and I am glad to inform that all franchisees have been sold. We are extremely happy with the people, corporate and entities who have bought the teams. Contrary to speculations and rumours, we had to say ‘no’ to many interested parties because we are looking for long-term commitments from everyone involved in LPL,” Mohan said via an email interview.
IPG, a sports broadcast entity who has covered two events Sri Lanka was part of – the Nidahas Trophy in 2018 followed by the T20 series to Pakistan in 2019 – are the official rights holder of LPL up to 2024. The agreement with SLC will allow IPG the rights for franchises, global media, on-ground sponsorship and event production, which covers the most important segments of the much looked-forward to T20 league.
With SLC failing to ignite the T20 league after abandoning its own SLPL since 2013, the LPL was also deemed to be a failure by many cricket followers, mainly local. And even the process of organising LPL was delayed several times with the health restrictions that were tightened after a second outbreak in Sri Lanka.
“People now are hungry for any ‘live sport’ they could get during this crisis. Though matches are played in empty stadiums, there has been a huge spike in viewership numbers both in television and digital medium. Sports fans too are exploring new avenues to beat the virus. The proof of this is the opening match of the IPL this season. It has been reported that 200 million people tuned in which makes it the most-watched opening day in any sporting league ever. Sri Lanka too had have been devoid of any sporting events during this period, so what better way than to embrace the new normal with the most loved sport in the country. I have no doubt that LPL will get a very positive response from the fans,” said Mohan.
The official logo unveiling will give a ray of hope after the LPL was termed a non-starter by many after it had to postpone the player draft from October 9. According to IPG, a Dubai-based company, it has a fusion of all local factors in creating the logo.
“It depicts what is very unique to Sri Lanka, its people, culture and cricket, which holds an important place in everyone’s heart in this country. At the same time, it also has a global appeal which will help our international audience to connect with LPL easily,” Mohan explained.
With the dates being set for the commencement of LPL as November 15, at two venues – Pallekele and Sooriyawewa, both featuring facilities to play cricket under lights, the organisers confirmed that they have already taken steps to follow ICC guidelines, set for match fixing and corruption.
“We along with SLC have taken all necessary measures to fight corruption and any discrepancy in LPL at every stage as per ICC guidelines. IPG and SLC are very confident that we will deliver a clean and a glorious league,” declared Mohan.
With five teams set to be named as franchises after Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna, the LPL will include 23 matches over a period of 15 days. Along with all key current international players from Sri Lanka, 75 foreign players will be in the players draft to be picked by the five franchisees. If all goes well as planned, the LPL begin on November 15 and end on December 13.