The Glazer family, which owns the world's most popular football club, Manchester United, is apparently interested in buying one of the two new IPL franchises set to be introduced in the 15th edition of the tournament. As per reports, the Man United owners have picked up the Invitation To Tender (ITT) floated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

While the ITT allows foreign companies to own an IPL franchise, they are expected to set up a company in India if their bid is successful. "We don't really know whether the Man United owners will come to the bidding table. What we certainly know is that they've shown interest. A lot of people usually pick these tender documents to study and gather information that tends to be otherwise very useful from a larger industry perspective. For instance, buying a bid document will tell me more about what the BCCI is planning next, in terms of the league expansion, etc. For instance, if Disney has bought the tender document to buy the franchise, it doesn't mean Disney is interested in owning a franchise. It will study the document because it has to plan its own media rights landscape," a source was quoted as saying by TOI.

The Manchester United owners' move might also be one of the reasons why the BCCI had decided to extend the date for purchasing the ITT from October 5 to October 10. "Well yes, it is true that they have shown interest and that may be one of the reasons why the dateline was extended by the BCCI. IPL is not just restricted to India, it is a global entity now," a source reportedly informed ANI.