The owner of the Telugu team has given up his stakes in the CCL and walked out after incurring a loss of over Rs 2 crore. This has raised doubts about the CCL board’s recovery module, since the odds are stacked in their favour instead of the individual teams. Apart from the Rs 1 crore franchise fee, the teams also have to shell out Rs 1.5-2 crore for 12 star players and arrange boarding for visiting teams, bringing the total expenditure to Rs 4-5 crore.

Actor Vishnu Manchu, who owned the Telugu Warriors, says his decision to leave was personal, “Cricket can wait; I had to attend to my wife in the US when she delivered our twin girls.” A source from the CCL reasons, “Out of six teams, four have managed to make a profit, but by Season 3 they will all make money. The first two seasons were just meant to promote and stabilise the CCL brand.” The CCL board had assured the franchise sponsors along the lines of the IPL, but they have reportedly reneged on their promise.

A prominent member of the Telugu team reveals, “The CCL charges Rs 1 crore as franchise fee and yet, the individual teams have to slog to get sponsors. Star fees have been jacked up from Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore. Furthermore, 60-70 per cent of the crowd have complimentary passes, so where are the stadium collections?”

Ashok Keney, owner of the Kannada team, feels that telecasts can make up for the shortcomings. “The IPL matches touched 4-5 TVRs, while CCL wavered between 6 and 11 TV Rs. Stars playing serious cricket are definitely grabbing eyeballs,” he asserts.

While telecast rates have increased around 2.5 times, and money is coming in from digital rights (telecast on Youtube), franchises and sponsors, the CCL board is said to share little with the teams. “We give 10 per cent from the central funds to each of the six teams. Plus we have to spend on team travel, and pay Rs 40-50 lakh for the telecast team on the ground,” defends the CCL source.

Founder and managing director of the CCL Vishnu Induri says, “It’s a big turnaround. Over five teams want to join us, but we’ve decided to allow only two teams every season.” Responding to the allegation that the CCL board is making more money than the teams, he says, “That’s unfair because every rupee is accounted for. If existing teams are incurring losses, why are new teams pouring in?”

After Vishnu Manchu’s exit, a shoe brand sponsor backed out because of the lack of stars in the Telugu team. “Venkatesh’s towering presence has made a big difference and we are happy with the Telugu team. Of course, even Jr NTR was willing to play for us but he was tied up with film commitments,” adds the source.

Where are these big stars that the CCL boasts of? “Aren’t Vishal, Arya and Jiva big K-town stars? Even Darshan, Sudhip, Dhruv, Mohanlal, Salman Khan and Venkatesh are superstars in their respective regions. In fact, their fan clubs buy most of the tickets, and having a stadium turnout of 20,000 to 70,000 is not a small achievement,” argues the source from the CCL.