T20 cricket league LLC to raise $10mn
NEW DELHI : Legends League Cricket (LLC), a global T20 cricket league with recently retired international cricketers, is looking to raise $10 million to develop the league further, Raman Raheja, a director of Absolute Legends Sports Pvt Ltd and chief executive of LLC, told Mint. Some of the big names in the league are Harbhajan Singh, Gautam Gambhir, and Chris Gayle. The league, which has two formats and runs at two different times of the year, has raised a total of $7 million since its inception in 2022, when the first season of the league was played.
Some proceeds of the fund raise will go towards marketing, while some will be spent on restoring stadiums in locations like Ranchi, Dehradun, Jammu, Vizag and Surat. “Some of the grounds we are playing on, especially Jammu and Dehradun for instance, required a lot of work in terms of restoration and to bring it up to international standards. We are working with local authorities to improve the grounds," he said.
The two formats it plays in are regional and franchise. The international ‘regional’ format is called ‘LLC Masters’, played in Qatar. ‘Legends’, the franchise-based model takes place in India, with six privately owned teams—India Capitals, Gujarat Giants, Bhilwara Kings, Manipal Tigers, Urbanrisers Hyderabad and Southern Super Stars.
The owners of the two new teams, Hyderabad and Stars, which were added in October, paid $15 million each to acquire the franchises for nine years. “The business model for us is largely in our franchise model league, Legends. The other league, Masters, is more focused on popularizing the game and reminding fans that some of these cricketers are still playing and so is more of a marketing initiative for us.
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