London mayor Sadiq Khan is eyeing to bring Indian Premier League (IPL) to the British capital.
Indian Premier League is the most-attended and followed cricket league in the world. Since it's commencement in 2008. the cash-rich tournament has achieved stratospheric growth, developing into one of the world’s most lucrative annual sporting properties, pulling in millions of viewers each season.
Even during tough times of COVID-19, IPL managed to break viewership records as 20 crore people tuned in to watch the tournament opener in 2020. Moreover, the opening week of last year's IPL also saw the league being watched by 269 million viewers, a rise of 11 million viewers per match as compared to 2019.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that he knows that his people are hungry to see the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant play in two of the world greatest stadiums, Lord’s and The Kia Oval. He added that London is an ideal place to host IPL matches.
“This is part of my plan to build a better London after the pandemic. I know Londoners are hungry to see more of the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant and, with two of the world’s greatest cricket grounds in Lord’s and The Kia Oval, London is ideally placed to host IPL matches,” Sadiq Khan said.
Khan further said that he would never stop banging the drum to bring IPL to London as it will help to boost tourism and generate much-needed revenue.
“I will never stop banging the drum for investment in our city and bringing the Indian Premier League to London would not only guarantee a home crowd for every country but boost tourism and generate much-needed revenue to help get our capital back on its feet.” he said.
IPL however, has been staged outside India in the past, with South Africa hosting in 2009 and the UAE last year.
(Reuters inputs)
