 USA has thrown its hat in the ring by announcing that they will soon have an IPL-like
T20 tournament in their country, which will be approved by the ICC. The USA Cricket
Association (USACA) chief, Don Lockerbie has revealed to the media that
the ground work for having such a tournament is already in place and a sports
management firm has been appointed as consultants for the same.
USACA has said that the search was on to find the right partners, and according
to a media release by Rushmans, the sports event management company, USA Cricket
Association (USACA) has issued an RFP for the formation of Twenty20 format USA
Premier League. Some of the services that have been sought by the USACA are
to get corporate sponsorships, development of major cricket events in USA, planning
and implementation of a T20 league, selling of TV/radio rights, development
of a website, creating merchandising deals and so on.
The chief, Lockerbie said, "I'd like to see a successful, world-class,
best-players-in-the-game tournament, an invitational franchise league or something
like that, in the near future. That would be the dream. It's too early to say
what kind of format that would be, but we are putting out a tender for proposal"
However, he clarified that the tournament will not be another IPL as was planned
earlier, but could be a model that looks to emulate or partner the IPL instead.
He said that he doffs his hat off to Lalit Modi, the man behind the IPL.
Lockerbie also added that he would look to add more cricketing venues to the
country, like Indianapolis, California and New York apart from the already existing
Florida.
The chief also added that whatever model he adopts for the professionally run
league would be in tune with whatever the ICC had in mind and there will be
a full backing from the ICC.
He refuted claims that he would be competing against the IPL, and said, "We
made a commitment we will be a significant contributor to the world of cricket
and a good partner. I don't see us as a competitor, I see as being a partner
in something that will make sense to the game as it continues to evolve."
On the other hand, the earlier planned American Premier League, which had Sir
Richard Hadlee as one of the consultants, has been shelved for this because
of the lack of support from the USACA. And now with the USACA planning its own
tournament, it remains quite doubtful to take off.
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