The good, the bad and the ugly of the IPL phenomenon

This cricket league's success is stupendous but it's time for the BCCI to put its riches now to good use

- NARAYAN RAMACHANDRAN

The Indian Premier League (IPL) for Cricket is the second largest sports league in the world after the American National Football League (NFL).

You read that right, second largest in the world! And the IPL is a toddler, only 18 years old, compared to over 125 years of the American Major League Baseball's existence, 100 years of the NFL's and 75 years of Formula One's.

The NFL dominates all revenue metrics like total revenue (nearly $20 billion), revenue per team ($600 million) and revenue per match ($67 million).

The last of these metrics is considered the most relevant for comparison across geographies and formats, and the IPL comes in second with nearly $17 million per match.

Justifying its position as a young league, the IPL has been growing revenue at a compounded annual rate of above 20% compared with about 8-10% for other major sports leagues like the NFL.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India, widely known by its four-letter abbreviation BCCI, sits atop the IPL pyramid.

It is a tax-exempt organization that oversees this entertainment juggernaut.

Like for most major sports leagues around the world, the revenue model is made up of TV and digital rights revenue, central sponsorships, franchise level sponsorship, stadium receipts and merchandise revenue.

The BCCI struck a five-year $6 billion deal with Disney/Viacom 18 for TV and digital rights revenue from 2023 through 2027.

In addition to this annual $1.2 billion, the Board earns another $100-200 million from central sponsorships.

The BCCI shares half of this with the ten franchise teams.