The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is not the only party that is going to pocket in a huge fortune when it gives the media rights for the lucrative Indian Premier League next month, as the franchises are also going to enjoy a significant windfall.
The much-anticipated bro will take place on September 4 in Mumbai with a total of 24 mega companies, comprising the likes of Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, Yahoo and other big entities, set to fight it out to get the media rights of the cash-rich IPL. According to a report in The Economic Times, each of the eight franchises is set to earn a whopping Rs 150 crore at least even before the start of the next season.
As per estimates, the board is expected to land at least Rs 12,000-14,000 crore for selling the media rights for television and digital coverage of the league for the next five years (2018-2022). The BCCI’s purse will be further bolstered by title sponsor Vivo’s contribution.
The mobile manufacturing company is expected to shell out Rs 700-800 crore in the next five years which will enhance BCCI‘s revenue as well by at least Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 3,000 crore per year). According to an agreement, the board will be sharing 40% of this Rs 3,000 crore ( Rs 1,200 crore) among the eight IPL franchises that will be featuring in the tournament next year.
“At the given cost structure, all the teams will comfortably break even next year,” a top executive of an IPL franchise was quoted as saying by the Economic Times. “If the player cost doesn’t increase much, the profits will be upwards of Rs 50 crore.”
“We are hoping that the central revenue pool will be significantly higher next year,” said Mohit Burman, co-owner of Kings XI Punjab. “So a higher revenue pool will only help if the cost also does not increase much.”
Venky Mysore, the CEO of Kolkata Knight Riders, on the other hand, admitted that there would be an increase in the revenue pool but refrained from assuming the amount that each franchise would pocket.
“Yes, the central revenue pool will see an increase, but I don’t want to be presumptuous on what that number will be,” said Venky Mysore. “It will make a lot of franchises profitable, but the way we see, the health of a franchise has to be independent of central revenue. One has to build a brand and a fan base, which ensures good valuation.”