The next BPL team should be a Kathmandu franchise

[Yankees]

Nepal is a country with a population of 30 million. It's bigger than Sri Lanka and cricket enjoys intense popularity in the country. With Barisal dropping out this year, BCB should take a bold step and have the 8th franchise be based out of Kathmandu.

Why it makes sense?

Simple economics:
You are tapping into a market that has 30 million people, where cricket is extremely popular. Yet their team is an associate and not a very good one. They play very little international cricket and Nepal has no other sport really. So BPL will not be competing with the national team or with any other entity. BPL can instantly get more views, leverage that into more lucrative TV deals, and generate more and more ad revenue. Our players can gain a new fan base, and possibly even new endorsement deals.

Desire for home/away fixtures:
As we know, one of the issues with BPL is that it only uses 2 stadiums. We all want Home/Away fixtures, right? Well, the Nepal board will soon complete a new national stadium with a capacity of 30,000. With little cricket played, that stadium could easily be the home venue for the Kathmandu team. At no expense to BCB, BPL will gain a whole new stadium. Alot of the regions in BD don't have stadiums and will take years to develop, whereas Kathmandu is completely ready to house a team.


Logisitcs:
Except for a tiny bit of Indian land, BD and Nepal are practically neighbors. Flights from Kathmandu to Dhaka is only 30 mins longer than Dhaka to Chittagong. Eventually, when there is home/away fixture, logistics will not be an issue.

Kathmandu team:
Just to be clear, this would be a BPL franchise team based out of Kathmandu, not the Nepal national team. But we can have special rules in effect, like an inverted 5 foreigner rule, where 5 of the XI will have to be Nepali and the other 6 can be Bengali/foreigner. This will ensure that they will be just as competitive as any other BPL team.

Ownership:
Ownership can and should be a Bangladeshi firm just to keep things simple. Ideally, all the BPL franchises should be opened up to foreign ownership, but that's a separate issue. Baby steps for now.

I can already imagine the most obvious objections to this proposal so I'll answer a few below:

Why would Nepal agree to this?
Perhaps the easiest hurdle to overcome. Nepal cricket team gets little to no games. Yet it has an intense popularity. Imagine channeling that passion to a team based out of your capital, representing you. And you also get to cheer on your best players. It will not infringe or compete with the national team or Nepal's domestic structure. Also, Nepal's best players get exposure and experience, which in turn will help the national team grow.

It's called Bangladesh Premier League, it should only have teams in Bangladesh.
Not really an issue. Plenty of such leagues exist already. NBA, MLB have teams in Canada. Plenty of Welsh teams play in the "English" Premier League. Lots of NZ based teams participate in Ozzie leagues.

We should expand in other parts of BD first, rather than another country. Places like Cox Bazaar and Barisal deserve a team.
This is a tougher one to answer. Perhaps Cox B., Barisal does deserve a team, but BPL gains more by going into Kathmandu first. The people of Cox B. will tune into BPL no matter what, but the people of Nepal are much more likely to follow BPL if they have a local team to support. You don't expand TV views by having a team in Cox B., but you increase it (by millions) by going into Kathmandu.

In short, it's win win for everyone. Generate revenue for BPL/BCB, which will in turn be used to develop Bangladesh cricket. Nepal fans get more cricket. The top few Nepal players get to participate in a T20 format, make money, etc.

Ultimately, this could be one way for BPL to compete with the other T20 leagues in the world. The only reason IPL hasn't done it yet is because it has states bigger than Nepal without a franchise. But BPL, based in a smaller country like BD, can only grow so much. With a bit of outside the box thinking, BPL can easily become the second largest T20 league in the world.

Thoughts for/against?

[Zeeshan]

Interesting piece, darling. FP material almost if not for the current Aus series... perhaps we can publish it in future?

[Yankees]

Thanks, baby. If you think it's good enough for FP than by all means move it for later.

[aklemalp]

Hmm, not a bad idea. This is something similar to our CPL.

[Yankees]

Originally Posted by aklemalp
Hmm, not a bad idea. This is something similar to our CPL.

Sort of. Even though CPL takes place in different countries, it's all under the WICB, which has cricket jurisdiction in those countries. For this, BPL would still be wholly operated by BCB, but just happens to have a team based in Kathmandu. From a legal standpoint, it's similar to a Bangladeshi business opening a branch in Nepal.

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by Yankees
Sort of. Even though CPL takes place in different countries, it's all under the WICB, which has cricket jurisdiction in those countries. For this, BPL would still be wholly operated by BCB, but just happens to have a team based in Kathmandu. From a legal standpoint, it's similar to a Bangladeshi business opening a branch in Nepal.

Cool, thanks for the further information.

I really do think that it is worthy of being on the front page. Some very good points were brought up in this initiative.

[Yankees]

Originally Posted by aklemalp
Cool, thanks for the further information.

I really do think that it is worthy of being on the front page. Some very good points were brought up in this initiative.

Thanks buddy. I don't know the rules about FP publishing, but if any of the mods want to move it, its fine by me. I also wrote this in like 10 mins so I can polish it up some.

[tejkuni]

I think that is a great idea. This will also increase tourism. TV commercial of BD products may get new market. "Pran" products are already there. Nepalis who live in BD (including a huge number of students) will probably go to the stadium.

[Yankees]

Originally Posted by tejkuni
I think that is a great idea. This will also increase tourism. TV commercial of BD products may get new market. "Pran" products are already there. Nepalis who live in BD (including a huge number of students) will probably go to the stadium.

Forgot about tourism, but yes another positive side effect. A company like Pran will have to out bid not just other BD firms, but also Nepali companies (during Kath. games) for ad space. A great thing for BCB.

[Roy_1]

If materialized will be great for Nepal cricket, they have a young population and cricket is quite popular among them, all they need is more chances and exposure to global cricket.

[RealSports]

Interesting, but I totally disagree. It's a Bangladesh league, and should only have teams within Bangladesh. Nepalese people don't speak or understand Bengali. I like the idea of including Cox Bazaar though. Also, no franchise league even combined can match the IPL. Their tournament ranks among the likes of EPL, NBA, MLB, AFL, NHL etc.

[Yankees]

Originally Posted by RealSports
Interesting, but I totally disagree. It's a Bangladesh league, and should only have teams within Bangladesh. Nepalese people don't speak or understand Bengali. I like the idea of including Cox Bazaar though. Also, no franchise league even combined can match the IPL. Their tournament ranks among the likes of EPL, NBA, MLB, AFL, NHL etc.

I anticipated this as one of the main objectives and wrote:

It's called Bangladesh Premier League, it should only have teams in Bangladesh.
Not really an issue. Plenty of such leagues exist already. NBA, MLB have teams in Canada. Plenty of Welsh teams play in the "English" Premier League. Lots of NZ based teams participate in Ozzie leagues.

Should have added that for NBA and MLB, it's still remained an American product. Only difference is that for Toronto home games, they play the Canadian anthem along with the American one. It would be the same case here.

Also BPL is broadcast in English with western commies.So not sure why language is an issue? Lastly, the goal isnt to compete with IPL. Goal is to grow BPL to number 2 status.

[aklemalp]

This is a picture or artist's depiction of the new stadium under construction in Kathmandu, Nepal. It's called the Mulpani Cricket Stadium. Capacity:30,000

[Shadow]

Originally Posted by aklemalp
This is a picture or artist's depiction of the new stadium under construction in Kathmandu, Nepal. It's called the Mulpani Cricket Stadium. Capacity:30,000

That's actually the old model of Mirpur Shere Bangla Stadium in Dhaka. Look, how the stadium is not round in shape.

http://tigers-cricket-profile.blogsp...t-stadium.html

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by Shadow
That's actually the old model of Mirpur Shere Bangla Stadium in Dhaka. Look, how the stadium is not round in shape.

http://tigers-cricket-profile.blogsp...t-stadium.html

That's a coincidence

[Yankees]

Originally Posted by aklemalp
This is a picture or artist's depiction of the new stadium under construction in Kathmandu, Nepal. It's called the Mulpani Cricket Stadium. Capacity:30,000

Read this regarding the stadium:

Home to eight of the ten tallest peaks in the world, it is only apt that Nepal is called 'the Home of the Gods'. It seems appropriate, therefore, that Nepal's newest cricket stadium, the half-complete Mulpani Cricket Ground in Kathmandu, is located atop a hill, that little bit closer to the heavens. The ground shares its acronym with a more celebrated stadium from the southern hemisphere, but the Mulpani ground possesses its own charm, with panoramic views of the Himalayas and the growing metropolis of Kathmandu.

Might just challenge Dharamsala stadium for having the best backdrop.

[aklemalp]

I remember IPL went to South Africa and UAE?

That wasn't bad at all. The South African leg was mostly during elections?

It's a good idea to host games overseas. As long as there are fans and accommodations. Both cricket boards have to work close together.

[ReZ_1]

Nice thread Yankees... lots of thought behind this..
But I would rather go with Sri lanka than Nepal. Srilanka started their spl but due to some reason it stopped. So a joint premier league between two teams could be interesting. Each franchise team can have 8 players comprising 4 from BD and Sl and 3 foreigners to give it multi cultural and global flavor. Also Sl have the experience in this league system.

[Yankees]

Originally Posted by ReZ_1
Nice thread Yankees... lots of thought behind this..
But I would rather go with Sri lanka than Nepal. Srilanka started their spl but due to some reason it stopped. So a joint premier league between two teams could be interesting. Each franchise team can have 8 players comprising 4 from BD and Sl and 3 foreigners to give it multi cultural and global flavor. Also Sl have the experience in this league system.

Thanks. Actually, I thought of SL initially and would prefer them over Nepal. But I decided against SL because:

Logistics: Home/away fixtures will be harder to schedule if you have to constantly fly teams from Colombo to Dhaka, and vice versa. Kathmandu is so close that it will actually be shorter than the bus rides from Dhaka to Khulna or Dhaka to Rangpur.

SLC: We would have to scrap BPL completely and start a brand new T20 tournament. Because there is no way SLC accepts a "Bangladesh" Premier League in their country. Also, SLC is strong and will want to share operating control with BCB. Too complicated and a political nightmare.

CAN is financially weak and have no leverage. So we can easily have a Kath. team with minimal or no involvement from CAN and still keep BPL exactly the way it is.

[Max100]

Great front page articles. Fresh and innovative ideas

[Yankees]

Originally Posted by Max100
Great front page articles. Fresh and innovative ideas

Originally Posted by Mas_UK25
Good idea.

Originally Posted by Anher
I am sold!
FP material.

It will help cricket in Nepal to flourish and bond cultures. Nepal will remember.

Thanks bros

[Mas_UK25]

Good idea.

[Anher]

I am sold!
FP material.

It will help cricket in Nepal to flourish and bond cultures. Nepal will remember.

[Shingara]

Kothakar ki ???

[iDumb]

Front page article? yeah right. I wouldn't even put this in the back page or even in a forum post.

It is just a very poor random thought of a random guy without much insight to how a tournament like BPL is run or its purpose.

We care about BPL not because it can reach world wide audience... (who cares?) but we support this tournament because it unearths Banglaeshi talent when they are pitted against world class players. Having a Nepali team neither gives a world class skill set nor does it unearths Bangladeshi talent.

I think one can look at Nepal for player signing if you want a portion of that viewership (but why do you want that?).

One can write a same post saying.. BPL should have a team from Calcutta - which is a much more lucrative team than any other and actually makes more sense but WHY?