Chennai Super Kings will play in South African leagues and other sports

Chennai Super Kings (CSK), an IPL team, want to enter the proposed South African league in order to expand its brand into other sports and strengthen its standing in cricket.

"It includes not just cricket but also other athletic venues. We will definitely consider them wherever we can leave a mark with the CSK ethos, said KS Viswanathan, CEO of CSK.

According to him, most sports, including kabaddi, badminton, and others, have already gone the franchise path. One of India's oldest outdoor activities, kho-kho, isn't falling behind. "A solid business plan will serve as the foundation for everything. We will undoubtedly be interested if it is worthwhile, Viswanathan remarked.

He added that nothing "prevents us from putting up our thoughts to the senior management," adding that they would have the final word.

Viswanathan reaffirmed CSK's desire to buy a cricket franchise in South Africa, where the nation's governing body plans to launch a domestic league similar to the IPL. We absolutely want to join cricket leagues abroad, he declared.

Worldwide interest has been relatively high in Cricket South Africa's (CSA) proposal for competitive bids, according to Viswanathan.

"The franchise model has been adopted by the majority of the nations. Now, there is a 100-ball franchise league in England as well. The T-20 format is becoming the norm, he claimed. "T-20 is anticipated to be the preferred strategy today. If we can participate, we also believe it will be a wise investment," he said.

Viswanathan asserted that having a franchise in another league will assist CSK in finding players for the squad. The proposed league by CSA has a higher price cap for players than those established by leagues in other nations, but it is less expensive than the IPL.

According to Viswanathan, a variety of criteria will determine whether CSK enters international cricket competitions on its own or creates a separate vehicle to do so. He claimed that the IPL franchises' primary motivation for entering foreign competitions was valuation.

"To start the IPL journey, we invested about $91 million over ten years" (around Rs 360 crore at the rate of Rs 40 a dollar). The two newest IPL clubs have spent more than Rs 12,500 crore, he claimed.

Only one IPL cricket franchisee, CSK, has shares available on the unlisted market. It is estimated to have an enterprise value (EV) of more than Rs 7,200 crore. For the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2021, it recorded a reduced profit of Rs 40.26 crore, down from Rs 50.33 crore in 2019–20. It reported revenue for the year of Rs 253.69 crore, down from Rs 356.53 crore the year before.

The board of India Cements (ICL) approved the transfer of the Chennai Super Kings' IPL franchise rights to its wholly owned subsidiary, Chennai Super Kings Cricket, in the early months of 2015. Additionally, a reorganisation plan for the recently created subsidiary was accepted at the same time. ICL's 97,054 stockholders received free shares of CSK Cricket in accordance to the number of ICL shares they already own under the redesign.

The former chief operating officer of the IPL, Sundar Raman, has been hired by CSK to look for business options, according to Viswanathan, who claimed that the team could not wish away crucial financial figures. "We must not disregard the financial figures. We are expanding into other sectors because of this, he said.

He said that CSK has established Super Kings Academy cricket training facilities for both girls and boys. It has locations in Salem and Chennai. He claims that CSK is also establishing a high performance centre with a variety of cutting-edge practise facilities. On a sizable property that it owns along Chennai's OMR express expressway, the high performance centre is going erected.

He remarked, "The Super Kings Academy is designed to grow cricket at the grass-roots level and run talent management programmes. The Academy has chosen to hold a corporate tennis ball cricket competition called "Super 7."