NEW DELHI : Knight Rider Sports, owned by Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla, and Jay Mehta, is set to expand its presence in the world of sports, especially cricket. In May, it acquired the Abu Dhabi franchise in the UAE’s T20 cricket league. It was the company’s fourth acquisition after the Indian Premier League’s Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise, Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), and a team in the Major League Cricket (MLC) of the US. In an interview, Venky Mysore, chief executive officer of KKR and Red Chillies Entertainment, spoke about the popularity of cricket in the US and its plans to buy either another cricket team or a franchise in some other sport. Edited excerpts:
What is the idea behind acquiring teams in so many sporting leagues?
Our vision was always to acquire assets similar to KKR around the world that we could own and operationalize. The assets should be timed in a way where we could create a caravan model so that we start at one place and go on to the other.
Has that played out well?
Yes, about eight seasons ago, we went to the Caribbeans for CPL and acquired the Trinidad franchise TKR. It happened during August-September. We’d already taken this step before anybody else even thought of it. The IPL was a two-month product and we had to figure out how to take the high-decibel event and keep our brand alive round the year. Now with the UAE T20 League, we have acquired the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders. We also made a big investment in the US MCL where we were involved from the inception of the idea. We’ll be setting up LA Knight Riders and we’re also building a stadium.
How much have you invested in the US MCL?
The specifics and investments are still being finalized, but the way it works there is that the model is different from other leagues because in US sports, particularly in the National Football League, the franchises collectively own the league. Becoming part owner of a league is interesting. The launch of the league is contemplated for June-July of 2023 and it may not be a full-fledged tournament depending on infrastructure and, as it happens, newer venues keep getting added.
How will the squad selection happen for the US team?
The US and the UAE leagues are similar in many ways. We don’t typically have the type of local players that IPL or CPL have. So, it will be primarily international players to start with but there will be a requirement for a certain number of local players so that you invest in their development. We will also work on other aspects of player development such as academies, scouting, and grassroots programmes, both in the US and the UAE.
Is there enough cricket viewership in the US?
Interestingly, the US ranks number two in digital consumption of cricket content, after India. There’s a huge market… may be made up primarily of the diaspora to start with. The best way to describe the US market is that we’re looking at the number one media market in the world combined with the second most watched sport. For us, to scale LA Knight Riders in the medium to long term, we must get average American sports fan interested in T20 cricket or cricket in general.
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