</font><br><div style="font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">I think everyone does, including me, but we should not be doing it in the way it is being done. This reminds me of the old NASL in America which failed partly because of the over-expansion from 8 teams in 1971 to 24 in 1978. That is 16 new teams in a span of 7 years. We were literally expanding for the sake of expanding and then look what happened. By 1984 the league was gone.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">You know how long it is taking MLS to get to 20 teams. More than 18-19 years. It took us 15 seasons to get to 18 teams. 12 to get to 14.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><br></div><div><font face="Arial, Verdana" size="2">Not I am not suggesting that there is some sort of secret correlation between the MLS and I-League but look at why it took this long to get to where MLS is. Why are other big leagues like in Qatar or the UAE stuck at 12-14 clubs? Why is the K League Classic still on 14 teams?</font></div><div><font face="Arial, Verdana" size="2"><br></font></div><div><font face="Arial, Verdana" size="2">When it comes to expanding a league it is very risky. It involves gambles in finances, crowd support, infrastructure. A lot of things. We are not ready for that. We do not even have 10 proper clubs in this country yet and we want 18 teams. Again, we are just not ready yet and the sooner the AIFF realizes this the better.</font></div>
<font face="Arial, Verdana" size="2">I think it can be done, right now we have 14 teams and none of them are getting money from tv rights or league sponsors. Ok they get some expense paid by the AIFF but not alot. So technically you could get 3-5 teams, who are able to finance themselves, how much do you need minimum to finance a I-league team, 10 crores?. It can be done and i dont think it will be the beginning of the end of the I-league. </font>
<font face="Arial, Verdana" size="2">I think it can be done, right now we have 14 teams and none of them are getting money from tv rights or league sponsors. Ok they get some expense paid by the AIFF but not alot. So technically you could get 3-5 teams, who are able to finance themselves, how much do you need minimum to finance a I-league team, 10 crores?. It can be done and i dont think it will be the beginning of the end of the I-league. </font>
<br><div><br></div><div>But this is a business. Are we really going out there and telling these companies "Okay, spend 10 crores on your own without any chance of making any sort of a profit back".</div><div><br></div><div>That is not how it works. It is just not that easy. That is why we are hearing stories of how these corporates wanting revenue sharing. They will want to make there money back eventually. Sure, maybe for the first year they will be okay with running at a great loss but not more than that.</div>
Comments
</font><br><div style="font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">I think everyone does, including me, but we should not be doing it in the way it is being done. This reminds me of the old NASL in America which failed partly because of the over-expansion from 8 teams in 1971 to 24 in 1978. That is 16 new teams in a span of 7 years. We were literally expanding for the sake of expanding and then look what happened. By 1984 the league was gone.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">You know how long it is taking MLS to get to 20 teams. More than 18-19 years. It took us 15 seasons to get to 18 teams. 12 to get to 14.</div><div style="font-family: Arial, Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><br></div><div><font face="Arial, Verdana" size="2">Not I am not suggesting that there is some sort of secret correlation between the MLS and I-League but look at why it took this long to get to where MLS is. Why are other big leagues like in Qatar or the UAE stuck at 12-14 clubs? Why is the K League Classic still on 14 teams?</font></div><div><font face="Arial, Verdana" size="2"><br></font></div><div><font face="Arial, Verdana" size="2">When it comes to expanding a league it is very risky. It involves gambles in finances, crowd support, infrastructure. A lot of things. We are not ready for that. We do not even have 10 proper clubs in this country yet and we want 18 teams. Again, we are just not ready yet and the sooner the AIFF realizes this the better.</font></div>
<br><div><br></div><div>But this is a business. Are we really going out there and telling these companies "Okay, spend 10 crores on your own without any chance of making any sort of a profit back".</div><div><br></div><div>That is not how it works. It is just not that easy. That is why we are hearing stories of how these corporates wanting revenue sharing. They will want to make there money back eventually. Sure, maybe for the first year they will be okay with running at a great loss but not more than that.</div>