Sachin to own Mumbai franchise in tennis league

After getting himself a football team in the Indian Super League, from Kochi, Sachin Tendulkar will also be co-owner of the Indian franchise in the coming International Premier Tennis League. Sources reveal the  now-retired batting maestro has again joined hands with PVP Group and invested in the Indian team in Mahesh Bhupathi's international tennis tournament.

Tendulkar, it has been revealed, is in a long-term partnership with the Tamil Nadu-based media and entertainment company to invest in sports in the country.

Prasad Potluri, chairman and managing director of PVP Ventures, said: “Partnering a legend like Sachin is a privilege. For the past couple of years, our focus has been to aggressively grow our sports business. To do this, we have invested in the Hyderabad team in the Indian Badminton League and the Indian franchise for the IPTL, apart from this football team.”
 

READY TO SMASH

• IPTL has 4 teams, one each from Mumbai, Dubai, Bangkok and Singapore, and the player auctions took place in March
• A total of $24 mn was spent at IPTL player auctions
• IPTL is to take place in the four participating cities from Nov 28 to Dec 14

He said the firm looked forward to working with Tendulkar in their present and future sports ventures. PVP had also tried to make inroads into cricket’s Indian Premier League, by offering a bid of Rs 900 crore to rescue Deccan Chronicle when the latter was unable to pay the required franchise fee for its Hyderabad franchise, Deccan Chargers.

IPTL, promoted by Globosport, the sports, event management and celebrity management company of Bhupathi, was announced last year in Paris and the player auctions for the tournament took place last month. The tournament has four teams, one each from Mumbai, Dubai, Bangkok and Singapore. The identities of the franchise owners have not been revealed and a spokesperson from Globosport said the team owners had decided to make the announcements individually at their convenience.

Sources at PVP also said a detailed announcement of the company's plans for the football and tennis teams will be made in the near future.

The IPTL player auctions caught the attention of tennis enthusiasts around the world, with a total of $24 million spent on acquiring players to represent the four cities. The list includes current stars such as Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, and retired veterans such as Andre Agassi and Martina Hingis. The tournament is to take place in the four participating cities from November 28 to December 14.