Corporate giant Sahara India Pariwar retained their ownership of Lucknow, while Infinite Computer Solutions will be the new owners of the Delhi franchise in the second edition of the Indian Badminton
Corporate giant Sahara India Pariwar retained their ownership of Lucknow, while Infinite Computer Solutions will be the new owners of the Delhi franchise in the second edition of the Indian Badminton League scheduled to be held in January next year.
The Badminton Association of India, which is organising the lucrative event this time along with marketing partner Sportzlive, has set the ball rolling for a bigger and better IBL next year. Five franchises have already confirmed participation so far.
“The preparation for the IBL second season is going very well. Till now five franchisee have confirmed and we will reveal all very soon,” BAI president Akhilesh Das Gupta said.
“Presently, I can share Lucknow and Delhi franchisees’ owners names. Lucknow owners are Sahara and Delhi franchisee owners are Infinite Computer Solutions,” he added.
In 2013, Krrish Group were the owner of Delhi Smashers, while Awadhe Warriors — the Lucknow based franchise — were bagged by Sahara and they will continue their association this time too.
After a break of two years, the BAI has decided to go ahead with the cash-rich event which will be held across six cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai.
The Chennai team will replace Pune Pistons, who were owned by Dabur India Limited in the first edition. The inaugural edition of IBL, which was hosted by BAI in collaboration with commercial partners Sporty Solutionz in 2013, was a grand success and this time the BAI has promised to increase the glamour quotient with many Bollywood celebrities joining the league.
The second edition was initially announced for September-October 2014 and then postponed to January-February 2015, before finally being scheduled in the first fortnight of January.
