Punjab Kings co-owner Ness Wadia feels the Indian Premier League (IPL) is finally getting the valuation that it deserves after one of the two new IPL teams was bought for more than Rs 7,000 crore on Monday. The BCCI in a press release stated that the Lucknow franchise was bought for Rs 7,090 crore by the RPSG Group. The other franchise, based out of Ahmedabad, was bought by CVC Capital Partners, a private equity and investment advisory firm, for Rs 5,625 crore.

“I think it was long overdue. It (IPL) is without doubt one of the most established leagues in the world. It has got the highest viewership and it is high time that it received the accolades and the valuation that it did. It’s amazing how BCCI and the support staff has done a fabulous job and happy that it is getting the value that it deserves,” Wadia said.

When asked about what he thinks could be the valuation of the Punjab Kings franchise, Wadia said that Rs 7,000 crore was now the threshold for all the teams, in terms of valuation.

“Expected value is Rs 7,000 crore. That’s the threshold right. It might even be more because if you look at the calculations and work it out, we have positive cash flow. If someone in future is interested in investing in Punjab Kings or any other franchises which might be available for investment, we have a constant cash flow at the moment without any outflow,” he added.

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Wadia said that it took his franchise about 9 years, from 2008, to break even. But he thinks that times have changed and the new franchises might not take so much time recover the cost. He also said that the IPL media rights, that were bought by Star India for Rs 16,347.50 for the 2018 to 2022 cycle, could go for double the amount when it comes up for bidding ahead of the 2023 season.

“It took us nine years to eventually break-even. But I think things have changed. The media rights are coming up. I am pretty sure they will go for a staggering amount again. Chances are it could go for double (of what it went for last time),” he said.