IPL, the money-spinner

The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) starts today, with the defending and three-time champions, Mumbai Indians, taking on two-time champions Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Over the last decade, the IPL has changed the way we consume cricket as a sport, and, despite jibes from purists, continued to enjoy tremendous support from fans and sponsors.

A Reuters report noted that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had consolidated its position as the world’s richest cricket board in September with the game’s biggest TV deal, when it sold the Indian Premier League’s global media rights to Star India for a staggering $2.52 billion (around Rs16,400 crore today). That bid was a 158% premium on the Rs8,200-crore bid Sony made in 2008 for the 10-year TV rights.

Looking at a 60-match edition in the five-year contract (2018-22), the deal values each game at about Rs54.6 crore.

In comparison, domestic TV rights for England’s Premier League, for 2016-19, were sold for £5.14 billion (around Rs47,000 crore today), putting the value of an average match at about Rs41 crore. But unlike the IPL, where all matches are broadcast live, only 168 of the 380 matches in the Premier League are telecast live.

In the US, broadcast rights for the National Football League were sold for $39.6 billion for a nine-year period that ends in 2022. In 256 games per season, the deal values each game at Rs112 crore.