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New league set up for retired cricketers gets notice from rival
- It added that the organizers had deliberately and intentionally used a similar name deceptively and fraudulently with a view to gain unfair advantage
New Delhi: It’s a clash of legends, literally. A new league of retired Asian cricketers has been launched in India. This one, organized by World Sports Group Private Limited, will be called Asian Legends League (ALL) and would be on very similar lines to its existing competitor, Legends League Cricket (LLC) that was launched in 2022. But, in response to the launch, LLC has sent a legal notice to the owners of the new league.
The notice said the idea of the retired crickets league was set up by them in 2022 and that they had already hosted the tournament over three seasons. It added that the organizers had deliberately and intentionally used a similar name deceptively and fraudulently with a view to gain unfair advantage. The five-team format of ALL will be a round-robin one over a 10-day period, and will air before the Indian Premier League.
Mint has accessed the legal notice.
Team India will be represented as Indian Royals, captained by retired cricketer, Irfan Pathan, who, interestingly, also heads the Bhilwara Kings team in Legends League Cricket. Sri Lankan Lions will be headed by Upul Tharanga while Afghanistan Pathans will be captained by Asghar Afghan. Pakistan Stars will be headed by Mohammad Irfan and Bangladesh Tigers will be captained by Alok Kapali.
“We are evaluating options for a broadcast partner. We have already identified captains for our five teams at present and will likely be televised by mid-March,” said league commissioner and former BCCI selector Chetan Sharma. Mint has learnt that company will tie up with Viacom-18 Sports18 and JioCinema for the broadcast and digital rights.
The organiser said the company launched in 2022 is a new entrant in the sports business. Its investor is Naresh Bawa and is headed by Chandigarh-based RD Singh. The company has not yet identified owners for the teams but is expecting to close deals with sponsors soon.
Singh did not allude to how much investment has gone into the league, however on being asked whether the league is on similar lines to the existing Legends League, Singh said, "There is a different between us and LLC in that for them any retired player can play for any teams, regardless of the region. However, ours will be specific to region. So, a retired first-class cricketer from India will only play for India."
In 2022, India's media advertisement spending, on-the-ground and team sponsorships, and celebrity endorsements breaching the ₹14,000 crore mark for the first time, demonstrating a massive post-covid recovery, according to a report by GroupM. Cricket contributed a sizeable 85% to this.
"We have seen multiple leagues and events come up in recent times following the success of Legends League Cricket. While we appreciate such initiatives in the interest of the game or cricketers, this is just misleading fans of the game by simply being a frivolous copy of our brand identity," Raman Raheja, co-founder and CEO of Legends League Cricket said.
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Business NewsNewsNew league set up for retired cricketers gets notice from rival
First Published:31 Jan 2024, 10:04 PM IST
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