The league is based upon a franchise-model where sponsors as well as the corporates and sponsors are permitted to buy and manage the teams. In addition to this, the league would also include the player buy-outs, wherein the highest bidder can choose this team teams. Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar have been pre-allocated to play or their respective teams namely Kolkata, Mohali, Bangalore, and Mumbai. These players can not be auctioned for any other teams.
In total there would be 8 Franchised City teams that would compete against each other in a 44 days tournament, with about 59 matches. The limited number of Franchise teams is likely to increase in number with the rise in the popularity of the event. The inaugural
Indian Premier League (IPL) season is expected to begin from 18th April 2008, which is a much awaited event by both cricketers and their fan-following.
Each of the Franchise teams would play against each other both home and away, with a guaranteed 7 home matches for every Franchise. Amongst these, the topmost 4 Franchise teams in the league would compete in the semi finals and the successful semi finalist teams would go in the Grand Final that would be held all over one weekend. The 2 IPL (Indian Premier League) finalists will then advance to the new Champions Twenty20 tournament that is tentatively scheduled for October 2008, and bags the cash prize for US$3 million. These matches would be conducted in accordance to the ICC World Twenty20 regulations.
