The Board of Control for Cricket in India has not accepted the offer of Star Sports to start the night matches of the IPL season 12 at 7 pm. The request was a repeat from the IPL broadcaster who had made a similar kind of a proposal last year too. As per reports in the Mirror, Mumbai Indians is one of those franchises who has objected to the idea of an early start.
There were different reasons which came into the picture. However, there are two main reasons why Star wanted to accommodate the night matches from 7 pm. The first one is that a 7 pm start will ensure that the T20 matches are shown in the prime time and will end before 11 pm on the majority of occasions. The viewership is also expected to be pretty high. The 2nd reason was security.
Star felt that an early start and an early finish will make sure that the public who turn up to the stadium for the matches reaches home without much security issues. The transportation facilities in the cities hosting the tournament aren’t great. However, the security issues shouldn’t be a problem with the people of Mumbai as it is the best in India with the best public transport system.
Traditional IPL timings will remain
It was further discussed that if the night matches are shifted to 7 pm then the evening matches should also be moved to 3 pm. However, an early start might not be a good idea especially given the scorching summer heat. As per reports in the Mirror some of the franchises had written to BCCI to not alter the traditional timings of the tournament.\
The BCCI which is administered and headed by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) abided by the request from the franchises. Star had bought the IPL rights by defeating Sony by $2.5 million which is equal Rs 25000 crores. Sony had earlier been the official broadcaster of the tournament for 10 years. An official from the Star who is a top position didn’t respond to a message but a BCCI official confirmed that 7 pm start was objected by the franchises.