Shah Rukh Khan’s patience is running out. Disappointed by the continuous underperformance of of his cricket team Kolkata Knight Riders, the superstar is now looking to exit the sports company, reports Business Standard. The actor is reportedly in talks with Nokia, Sahara, Anil Ambani Group and others for selling the team. Khan had bought the team last year for Rs 300 crore.
The report suggests that SRK has been trying to sell the team for some time now, but the buyers demanded management control. The second IPL season seems to have touched the wrong nerve of the king of India's commercial cinema, who has now resolved to sell his entire stake holding in the team.
Sahara India has reportedly expressed interest in buying the team. The report adds that SRK could actually sell KKR for double the amount he bought it for, provided the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) does not increase the number of teams for next year.
Khan's Woes
The actor tried hard to make things work for the team – he not only removed Saurav Ganguly from the team captaincy, but also warned the team of returning to South Africa only when the team wins. However, nothing seams to have worked in favour of the team as KKR continues to lose matches. The team has, so far, only won one match - that too curtailed by rain, under the Duckworth Lewis method.
It is not just the team’s poor performance but also the rising costs that are compelling the actor to exit the business. SRK is supposed to pay Rs 30 crore every year for the next 10 years. The total annual cost pf the team is around Rs 75 crore. Though the team had proved to be a successful IPL franchise last year with its Rs 13 crore profit, the costs went up due to the interventions by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).
Initially Red Chillies Entertainment, KKR’s holding company, had to pay Rs 90 lakh per match and earn Rs 3 crore if all the stadium tickets were sold at Eden Gardens. Besides this, it had to pay Rs 20 lakh to the police and municipal tax of Rs 5 lakh, taking the total cost per match to over Rs 1 crore, suggest the media reports.
