Three significant IPL clubs have invested in the upcoming debut of Major League Cricket (MLC), a new T20 franchise competition in the United States, in July. ESPN cricinfo has learned that Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, and Delhi Capitals have all purchased stakes in the MLC and will lead franchises in New York, Texas, and Seattle, respectively.
In total, four of the six MLC teams will be led by IPL franchises, as Kolkata Knight Riders, one of the tournament’s earliest backers, assumed control of the Los Angeles club. While Mumbai Indians, like Knight Riders, will independently operate the New York franchise, Caps will operate the Seattle team in conjunction with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. While Capitals in the IPL is jointly controlled by GMR Sports Private Limited and Jindal Sports West, it has been learnt that the former has partnered with Nadella to manage the Seattle franchise.
In a press release issued on Thursday, the MLC confirmed the Seattle franchise’s association with the Washington Capitals and announced the team’s name: Seattle Orcas. Additional investors in the Orcas franchise include Soma Somasegar (managing director of Madrona Ventures), Samir Bodas (co-founder and chief executive officer of Icertis), Ashok Krishnamurthi (managing partner of Great Point Ventures), and Sanjay Parthasarathy (former senior executive at Microsoft and Avalara).
The league’s other two franchises are located in Washington, DC, and San Francisco. Sanjay Govil, a local American investor, will own the Washington DC franchise, which will be known as the Washington Freedom. He has partnered with New South Wales Cricket to provide operational skills, such as assisting in the formation of the squad and establishing a cricketing framework. Cricket Victoria and the San Francisco franchise, controlled by Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan, have formed a similar strategic alliance.
This is consistent with IPL franchises’ ongoing efforts to expand their brands outside of India. Each of the four IPL franchises who have invested in MLC participates in multiple international domestic T20 franchise leagues. Mumbai owns teams in South Africa’s SA20 and the UAE-based International League T20 (ILT20), the Caribbean Premier League and ILT20, the Super Kings in SA20, and Caps (GMR) in ILT20 and SA20.
The inaugural season of the Major League Chess (MLC) will be played from July 13 to July 30 at the newly rebuilt facility in the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie, Texas, with the player draft for local US players slated for March 19 at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The roster will consist of a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 18 players, with a maximum of nine international players. At least six players in the starting eleven must be from the United States. The international players will be signed directly by the organizations and will not be included in the draft.
It is expected that teams will have a budget of $800,000 for international acquisitions and $300,000 for domestic players.
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