The global outbreak of the coronavirus has halted major events across the world, with the Indian Premier League (IPL) being the latest to be affected.
"The Board of Control for Cricket in India has decided to suspened IPL 2020 till April 15, as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus," said Jay Shah, Honorary Secretary of the BCCI in a statement.
This comes hours after Delhi government said it will not allow any sporting activity in the national capital due to the health crisis.
The tournament was originally scheduled to begin on March 29, 2020 and run till May 24, 2020.
��Announcement��: #VIVOIPL suspended till 15th April 2020 as a precautionary measure against the ongoing Novel Corona… https://t.co/ZE8IE8gQUj
The statement comes close on the heels of a fresh travel advisory from the government cancelling all visas into the subcontinent till April 15.
Agencies
The IPL, when it does happen, is set to be a closed-door affair owing to the global crisis, which has caused close to 5,000 deaths.
All this puts crores of money at stake, with stakeholders in the IPL - Star Network and its advertisers - looking at heavy revenue shortages.
In 2019, the IPL saw over Rs 550 crores spent on advertising, up from Rs 460 crore in 2018.
The schedule change will have an adverse impact on the sponsorship revenue earned by the eight franchises, with reports suggesting they could lose close to 40 per cent of their sponsorship earnings.
The league itself is estimated to be valued at 6 billion USD.
