The great degree of camaraderie and familiarity that characterised the meeting between Chief Executive Cricket South Africa (CSA) Gerald Majola and Chairman, IPL, Lalit Modi, seemed to indicate what a lot CSA stands to gain from the shifting of the Indian Premier League to South Africa. It is not just the revenues generated by the tournament directly, but also many other intangibles that the South Africans hope to gain according to recent cricket news.

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One of the most obvious benefits will be to the tourism industry in South Africa, the IPL Season 2 tournament will be held during the off season for cricket; the winter is not the time for cricket tourism in South Africa. What the IPL will do however, is give a spurt to the tourism industry as cricket enthusiasts will travel not just from India but from all over the world to witness the spectacle of the Indian Premier League in South Africa. Indian tour operators are reportedly busy putting together packages for people who want to go for the IPL from India.

CSA also stands to gain considerably from the IPL, not in terms only of gate money and other revenue generated, but through the amount of goodwill it will have earned from the most powerful cricket board in the world; the BCCI. As of now it is not clear what the revenue sharing model to be followed is or what amount CSA actually stands to make from the Indian Premier League, being held there, but large sums of are being quoted. As of now a CSA source has revealed a figure of US $ 25 million.

The advantages for CSA are manifold not just in terms of cash; in fact the advantage of having IPL Season 2 in South Africa will benefit the image of South Africa as a sporting destination as a whole.
 
According to Majola, this is a major compliment to CSA. "This a great compliment to both CSA and our nation to be shown this confidence in our ability to hold one of the world's top sporting events at short notice. We are looking forward to hosting some of the world's best cricketers and we can assure them they will be provided with the very best facilities to show their skills,” he said.

South Africa, which will be hosting the Soccer World Cup next year, will also use the Indian Premier League to rehearse and put in place security arrangement. IPL Season 2 will be a valuable training exercise for the security experts as well.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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