Dubai businessman Sethi reiterates desire to own IPL team

Dubai - Sethi, who hails from Chandigarh, also owns a team in the Caribbean Premier League.

Ajay Sethi, chairman of Channel 2 Group Corporation, reiterated his desire to own an Indian Premier League team. The Dubai-based Indian has been in the cricket business for a long time and his radio channel is the global audio partner of the ICC.
"We have got the audio rights for all ICC events until 2023. We are the global ICC audio partners. We also recently launched our cricket App," Sethi told Khaleej Times in an interview on Thursday.
"I first won the audio right in 2009 for the Middle East and America. I performed well, so when the chance came to become global ICC audio partner, I jumped at it."
Sethi, who came to Dubai in 1993, admitted that the IPL attracts him as a businessman.
"Yes, I am in discussion with one of the teams. I also have a big fund behind me that wants to support my vision. If I get the right value, I want to buy a stake. The value of the product is going up every year," Sethi said.
Sethi, who hails from Chandigarh, also owns a team in the Caribbean Premier League.
"I own the St Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean Premier League. I got into CPL because it gets North American Prime Time on TV. There is a huge cricket market in North America. There are about 15 to 18 million cricket fans in the region due to the presence of the West Indians and South Asians," he said.
"Even Shahrukh Khan bought the Trinidad team in CPL. It's obviously not as big as IPL, but it's doing very well. And I really love the passion people still have for cricket in the Caribbean islands."
Sethi also gave the thumbs up to the inaugural Pakistan Super League. "You know I initiated the idea of PSL with PCB when Zaka Ashraf was the PCB chairman. I was not getting involved in the business with them. But I wanted to help because their country has been deprived of cricket since 2009," he said.
"I think PSL is great for Pakistan cricket. They had a challenge here in the UAE to fill the stadiums, but they did it well. All the matches in Sharjah saw full houses and even in Dubai some of the matches drew massive crowds."
Sethi revealed that he was approached to get involved in the Masters Champions League in the UAE.
"Few people wanted me to own a team. But if you want my opinion then I will tell you that I will not invest in MCL," he said matter-of-factly.
"I wish good luck to the promoters of MCL. In fact, I was surprised by the quality of play from the retired players. But I don't know how long they can sustain it. To be successful, you need the support of strong boards like the BCCI, PCB or Cricket Australia. But MCL doesn't have that!"
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com