Singapore Cricket Association (SCA) has awarded the marketing and organizing rights for the SCA T10 Cricket to Dubai-based Innovative Production Group (IPG). Five companies had submitted expression of interest (EOI) after SCA had floated an RFP (request for proposal) for the sale of rights in August this year. The IPG Group has emerged as the highest bidder for the rights. This is the second major cricket league for which the IPG Group has bagged the rights after the successful Lanka Premier League (LPL) in Sri Lanka.
A virtual contract signing ceremony was hosted jointly by SCA and IPG Group in compliance with Covid guidelines on 16th December 2020 where SCA President Mr Mahmood Gaznavi signed the contract documents on behalf of host Governing Body SCA in the presence of Deputy President Mr Subir Ghatak, Vice Presidents Mr Manesh M and Mr S Santhanam, Hon. Tresurer Mr Neeraj S and CEO of the SCA Saad Khan Janjua.
President of Singapore Cricket Association (SCA) Mahmood Gaznavi said, “T10 is a great new dimension of cricket that represents the vastness of the audience. We have shown in the past that Singapore is the ideal host for this great sport with history of hosting India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. I believe that Singapore are the ideal destination to bridge cultures through cricket. Singapore Cricket Association is ready to celebrate this great sport and looks forward to bringing our vision to life with the IPG Group.”
SCA CEO Saad Khan Januja said, “SCA is proud to bring the T10 cricket league to Singapore with a new essence. We have envisioned a tournament with the IPG Group, that encapsulates the spirit of cricket as we introduce the first-ever men’s team and women’s team format. We at the SCA passionately believe, achieving transition in alignment with modern trends to transform cricket to ‘CRICKETAINMENT’ and information to ‘INFOTAINMENT’.”
Anil Mohan, a veteran of sports broadcasting and CEO of the IPG Group said, “We at IPG are excited with this opportunity and we are confident of making SCA T10 one of the premier sporting leagues in the world. We thank SCA and the leadership team for giving us this opportunity.”
Managing Director of the IPG Group, Jawad Ghulam Rasool added, “The IPG Group will work closely with SCA and will always thrive to add value to the existing cricketing eco system in Singapore.”
The 10-year rights bagged by the IPG Group include TV & digital broadcasting rights, production rights, franchisee sales rights and league management rights. This is the first T10 league where both men and women’s teams will be participating. The first year will have six teams in the fray and the number will be increased to eight teams from the third year onwards. The league is scheduled to be held in the second half of 2021 in Singapore.
