IPL revenues more than EPL, says Sourav Ganguly. How the T20 league made players, BCCI richer
PremiumIPL has created millionaires out of cricketers and made BCCI as one of the richest governing bodies in the world of global sport.
The Indian Premiere League (IPL), a brainchild of fugitive Lalit Modi, started in the year 2008.
After its 15th edition concluded in 2022 with the newly formed Gujarat Titans, led by Hardik Pandya, securing victory, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly has said, “The IPL generates more revenue than the English Premier League".
The English Premiere League or the Premiere League is considered the most viewed football tournament in the world. The Premier League, is the top level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football League.
However, Ganguly's statement comes at a time when media companies are are vying for the elusive media rights to the IPL, the world's richest cricket league, expected to fetch up to $6 billion.
Ganguly further stated that he feels proud to see that the game of cricket has been evolving in India.
"The IPL generates more revenue than the English Premier League. It makes me feel happy and proud that the sport I love has evolved to become so strong," said Ganguly at India Leadership Council Event while speaking to Deepak Lamba, CEO, Worldwide Media, President, Times Strategic Solutions Limited.
The IPL 2022 was held in a much larger scale than the previous ones.
How IPL made cricketers and BCCI one of the richest in global sport
The Indian Premiere league has created millionaires out of young cricketers and made BCCI as one of the richest governing bodies in the world of global sport.
Aruguably, the high-octane, big-hitting carnivalesque tournament provides a must-see product, driving broadcast subscriptions by the millions and pulling in huge advertising revenue.
IPL teams receive a share of the television rights and sponsorship money, and around 10 to 15 percent of ticket sales.
They can also generate their own revenue through lucrative shirt or other sponsorships.
Revenue generators
The BCCI earned $533 million from the IPL in 2020, treasurer Arun Dhumal told Indian media, but its finances are marked in secrecy.
"IPL is the hottest property in cricket and it has just been expanded to a 10-team tournament, which means there will be more matches," BCCI treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal told Reuters. "All of it should reflect in the value of the new media rights, which we expect to be significantly higher than our previous deal."
In its 15th year, the BCCI is expected to earn additional revenue of ₹1,271.5 crore per year ( ₹12,715 crore for 10 years) from the new teams besides ₹444 crore which it has received from VIVO as a reassessment fee.
When the tournament expanded to 10 teams this year from the original eight, the auction for the rights to own the new franchises drew international bidders including the Glazer family, who own Manchester United.
They were ultimately beaten out by Indian tycoon Sanjiv Goenka's RPSG conglomerate, who paid the BCCI $930 million to form the Lucknow Super Giants.
The second new franchise, the Gujarat Titans, cost the global venture fund CVC Capital $690 million.
Broadcast rights are the BCCI's biggest money-spinner. Star India, owned by Disney, paid $2.55 billion for a five-year television and digital rights deal that expires at the end of this season. Day 1 of the IPL media rights auction for both TV and digital ended at ₹43,050 crores on 12 June,
The teams spent nearly $75 million in the February player auction, with Mumbai Indians retaining wicket-keeper-batsman Ishan Kishan for $2 million and Punjab Kings paying England's Liam Livingstone $1.52 million for his services.
By contrast, the average player contract in England's six-month-long County Championship is $66,000.