IPL 2024 Series, Part-2: The earning of one IPL match is equal to the entire Pakistani league; 10 cricket leagues together are four times behind this

The 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is going to start after 2 days. BCCI will earn bumper from this tournament which will last for 2 months. Other top-10 cricket leagues of the world together are almost four times behind IPL in terms of earnings.

Pakistan earns as much from its franchise cricket league PSL from broadcasting rights in one season as IPL earns from showing one match. The brand value of IPL is estimated at Rs 88 thousand crore in 2023, which makes it the number-1 league in cricket by a long distance.

Mathematics of IPL's earnings compared to other cricket leagues in Part-2 of IPL series Do you know…

IPL is 4.4 times more than the combined value of the remaining 10 leagues.
After IPL, the brand value of the world's top 10 cricket leagues together is around Rs 20 thousand crores. According to the report of Brand Finance, a consultancy that evaluates big brands around the world, IPL alone has a brand value of Rs 88 thousand crores, 4.4 times more than all these. That means the world's top-10 leagues together are 340% less than IPL in brand value.

England's 'The Hundred' tournament is at second place in the brand value of cricket league. Pakistan Super League (PSL) is at number 5 with a brand value of Rs 2486 crore. Just below this is India's Women's Premier League (WPL), whose brand value is Rs 2246 crore.

What is brand value?
Brand value is the value of the entire ecosystem of a league. The brand value of a tournament is determined by its broadcasting rights, revenue, attendance, sponsors, title rights, TV and online viewers, player pricing, team pricing, and advertisements.

The brand value of IPL will be $ 10.7 billion (about Rs 88,700 crore) in 2023. That means, if someone wants to become the owner of IPL, he will have to pay Rs 88,700 crore to BCCI.

One IPL match equal to entire PSL season in broadcasting
In 2023, BCCI got Rs 48,391 crore from selling digital and TV rights of IPL. This amount was received for 5 years of matches, that is, the broadcasters paid Rs 9678 crore for one season. According to this, BCCI is getting Rs 119 crore for showing one match.

Broadcasters pay Rs 124 crore to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for one PSL season. That means Rs 3.60 crore from one match. BCCI earns Rs 8.70 crore from broadcasting even one match in the Women's Premier League (WPL), which is two and a half times more than the PSL match.

Australia's Big Bash League (BBL) is at second place in broadcasting rights. Cricket Australia (CA) gets Rs 14.50 crore for a match here. WPL is at third place in this matter and The Hundred League is at fourth place.

10 IPL teams give one thousand crore salary to players
The average salary of players in IPL is Rs 4 crore, which is equal to the price of the second most expensive player in the top cricket league. An IPL team has a limit of Rs 100 crore to make its squad of 25 players. 10 teams play the tournament, which means 250 players get a salary of one thousand crore rupees.

BBL is at second place in players' salary, here 8 teams spend Rs 128 crore on players' salary. South Africa's SA20 league ranks second in average salary. The average salary of 108 players is around Rs 1 crore. The average salary of players in PSL is Rs 50 lakh.

Difference of Rs 20 crore in the price of the most expensive player
The last IPL auction broke all records of player earnings in the cricket league. Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for a record Rs 24.75 crore. Which is Rs 20.61 crore more than the price of David Warner (Rs 4.14 crore), the most expensive player of UAE league ILT20.

Tristan Stubbs is the most expensive player in the South African SA20 league. Sunrisers team has bought him for Rs 4.10 crore. Apart from these, the price of the most expensive player in the rest of the league is less than Rs 3.50 crore, which is not even equal to the average salary of IPL (Rs 4 crore).

The most expensive players in PSL, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Babar Azam are priced at Rs 1.40 crore. Which is Rs 2 crore less than WPL's most expensive player Smriti Mandhana. Mandhana's price is Rs 3.40 crore.

Starc's earnings are more than IPL winning prize
In the last IPL auction, not only Starc but also his national team captain Pat Cummins was priced at more than Rs 20 crore. He was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for Rs 20.50 crore. The winning prize of IPL is more than Rs 20 crore.

Even the top-10 most expensive players in IPL are worth more than Rs 16 crore. All the top-4 positions are foreigners, among them there are 3 players from Australia. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli have the highest earnings among Indians. Lucknow team gives Rs 17-17 crore to Rahul and Rs 17 crore to Virat.

IPL ahead of World Cup in prize money
The winning prize of Rs 20 crore may not be more than the earnings of Cummins and Starc, but this amount is definitely more than the winning prize of ICC T-20 World Cup. Teams that win the T-20 World Cup and World Test Championship (WTC) get Rs 13 crore each from ICC. Which is Rs 7 crore less than the earnings of the IPL champion.

However, IPL is still Rs 13.2 crore behind the winning prize of the ODI World Cup. Australia had received Rs 33.2 crore for winning the World Cup in 2023. The team that wins South Africa's SA20 league also gets an amount of Rs 15 crore.

PSL is at number 7 in terms of winning prize, the team winning the tournament gets Rs 3.40 crore. The prize money of PSL including the runner-up and other awards is Rs 7 crore. Which is Rs 4 crore less than WPL and Rs 40 crore less than IPL. SA20 is also at second place in terms of prize money, Cricket South Africa spends Rs 33.5 crore in the form of awards and rewards.

The fourth team in IPL also gets Rs 6.50 crore.
The runner-up team in IPL gets Rs 13 crore, which is equal to the T20 World Cup and WTC champions. The teams finishing third and fourth in the tournament also get Rs 7 and Rs 6.50 crore. Which is more than the prize money of many top leagues.

The brand value of IPL was $10.7 billion in 2023, which has increased by 433% compared to the first season in 2008. Which is expected to cross $15 billion after the 2024 season.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) have won the tournament, which started in 2008, the maximum number of times, 5 each. Chennai is the defending champion of the tournament, the team won the title in 2023 by defeating Gujarat Titans under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Let us also know a little about the other top-5 cricket leagues of the world…

1. Big Bash League (BBL)
Australia's franchise cricket tournament Big Bash (BBL) began in 2011. The tournament is the top league after IPL in many respects. Broadcasting rights of BBL were sold for Rs 12,437 crore for 7 years. 13 seasons of BBL have been played and the brand value of the league is continuously increasing.

The BBL winning team gets Rs 3.73 crore and the runner-up team gets Rs 2.15 crore. Rs 8 crore is given in prize money. A team gets Rs 16 crore to buy 19 players of the squad. Perth Scorchers is the most successful team with 5 titles. Brisbane Heat is the defending champion, the team defeated Sydney Sixers in the 2023 final.

2. South Africa T-20 League (SA20)
South Africa's franchise league SA20 has made its mark among the audiences around the world in just two seasons. Teams are attracted by the league's prize money of Rs 33.2 crore and players are attracted by the purse size of Rs 17.5 crore. JioCinema has bought the broadcast rights of SA20 for Rs 832 crore for 10 years. The brand value of SA20 has reached Rs 3315 crore in just 2 seasons.

The board gets Rs 2.45 crore for one match. The average salary of the players is close to Rs 1 crore, which is the highest after IPL. Sunrisers Eastern Cap, captained by Aiden Markram, was captured in the 6-team tournament in both the initial seasons. The team won the last season in 2024 by defeating Durban Supergiants.

3. The Hundred
The concept of England's The Hundred League is slightly different from T-20 cricket. Here there is an over of 5 balls each and 100 balls are bowled in an innings. The England Cricket Board did this to make the game exciting. After selling the broadcast rights for 4 years for around Rs 900 crore, the brand value of the league also reached Rs 4221 crore. Which is the highest in cricket league after IPL.

In an 8-team tournament, a team has Rs 10.50 crore to buy 15 players. The average salary of players is Rs 95 lakh. The winning team gets Rs 1.80 crore, while the total prize money is Rs 4 crore. In the tournament that started in 2021, different teams became champions three times. Oval Invincibles are the defending champions, having won the title in 2023 by defeating Manchester Originals by 14 runs.

4. Pakistan Super League (PSL)
Pakistan Super League (PSL) is far behind IPL and other leagues in terms of earnings and players' salaries. But this competition is becoming a top tournament in terms of bowlers' quality and exciting matches. After selling broadcast rights for Rs 248 crore for 2 years, PCB's earning from one match is Rs 3.60 crore. But the brand value of the league is around Rs 2486 crore.

In the 6-team tournament that started in 2015, a team gets Rs 10 crore to buy 21 players for the squad. The earning of even the most expensive player of the league is not Rs 1.50 crore. The winning team gets Rs 3.40 crore and the prize money of the tournament is Rs 7 crore. Lahore Qalandars and Islamabad United have won the tournament the maximum number of times, 2 each. Lahore is also the defending champion, the team won the final in 2023 by defeating Multan Sultans by one run.

5. Women's Premier League (WPL)
BCCI's Women's Premier League (WPL) is the second best women's franchise league in quality. Australia's Women's Big Bash League is at number one. But in terms of earnings the league is ahead of many men's leagues. The brand value of WPL is Rs 2246 crore, which is now expected to cross Rs 3000 crore.

JioCinema bought the broadcasting rights of the league for Rs 953 crore for 5 years. Due to which BCCI gets Rs 8.70 crore for one match. Which is at number three in the top cricket league. The team that wins WPL gets Rs 6 crore and the runner-up team gets Rs 3 crore. Total prize money is Rs 11 crore.

In a 5-team tournament, each team has Rs 12 crore to make a squad of 18 players. Mumbai Indians, captained by Harmanpreet Kaur, won the title in the first season in 2023. Royal Challengers Bangalore won in the second season. Delhi Capitals team remained runner-up in both the seasons.

Craze for domestic T-20 league in India
BCCI's Indian Premier League (IPL) is not only the top cricket league in the world, apart from this, T-20 leagues of different states are also running in the country. Whose craze is increasing a lot these days. Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) and UP T-20 League (UP T-20) are on top among them.

Due to BCCI restrictions, their winning prize remains only Rs 1 crore. If there were no restrictions, the prize money of competitions like TNPL, UP T-20 and Rajasthan Premier League (RPL) would be more than that of the world's top cricket leagues. The winning prize of all three is currently Rs 1 crore each.

Graphics: Ankit Pathak

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Read tomorrow in IPL 2024 series, part-3

IPL changed the gear of cricket: ODIs decreased, T-20 increased, more results started coming in Tests.

T-20 format and franchise league helped in accelerating the pace of cricket. But the biggest contribution in this was from IPL. In 2008, there were only 16 teams playing T-20, which has now increased to 103. Only leagues like IPL did the work of making cricket global. Read the impact of IPL on cricket tomorrow…